Hottestgistnaija.com
Abuja, Nigeria, 28 October, 2018: The Vice President of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria, Professor Yemi Osinbajo (SAN),
is being economical with the truth in his statement that
former Vice President Atiku Abubakar was against
restructuring while in office between 1999 and 2007.
Speaking at a public lecture, entitled: ‘Developing the
Nation through Youth Empowerment’, as part of activities
marking the 68th anniversary of the Sigma Club, University
of Ibadan, Professor Osinbajo said:
“All this time, this was 2000, some of those people,
including the presidential candidate of PDP, who is talking
about restructuring, was the vice president then; they
opposed every step that we took. Of course, we were taking
the Federal Government to court then. They opposed every
step.”
Given that restructuring has become the major issue in the
2019 elections and given that Prof Osinbajo and his boss
have been speaking discordant tunes on restructuring, we
can understand their desperation to revise history, however,
it is impossible to revise documented history.
Professor Osinbajo needs to be reminded that there are well
documented accounts in the Nigerian media chronicling
Atiku Abubakar’s support and struggle for restructuring.
To set the records straight, we recommend to Professor
Osinbajo the article ‘Nigeria: 6-1 Onshore-Offshore
Jurisdiction Verdict’ written by Jide Ajani, then the Political
Editor of Vanguard Newspapers and published on July 13,
2001.
In that piece, which is still available online , Vanguard
newspapers chronicled the successful efforts of His
Excellency, Atiku Abubakar, to restructure the revenue
allocation formulae to allow littoral states of the federation
benefit from off shore oil proceeds. Ironically, it was
precisely Mr. Osinbajo’s boss, Muhammadu Buhari, who as
military dictator, cheated these states of their just due by
military fiat.
It is also common knowledge that the six geopolitical zones
structure which all parts of Nigeria benefit from today is the
fruit of the collaborative efforts of His Excellency, Atiku
Abubakar, the late Alex Ekwueme and other patriots.
Their efforts at restructuring Nigeria are captured in the
Hansard of the 1995 Constitutional Conference, which is a
public document and is still available at the Office of the
Secretary to the Government of the Federation. Professor
Osinbajo may want to familiarise himself with that
document.
The question we want to ask Professor Osinbajo is this –
why do he and his boss constantly resort to rewriting
history? Why can they not campaign on their achievements?
Is it that they are forced to campaign on subterfuge because
they have no achievements to campaign on?
President Buhari and Vice President Osinbajo promised to
make ₦1 equal to $1. They vowed to create three million
jobs per annum. They promised to pay the unemployed a
“job seekers allowance”. They said subsidy was a scam.
They also said that they would defeat Boko Haram.
Nigerians want to know if these promises have been kept.
They are not interested in fairy tales about how Atiku
Abubakar did not support restructuring because they know
that he is and was and will always be an active promoter of
restructuring.
Everywhere he goes to campaign, Atiku Abubakar has used
temperate and respectful language on both President Buhari
and Vice President Osinbajo. He has campaigned on his
record of achievements, which include the 50,000 jobs he
has created in his private capacity, and on his policies and
plans to Get Nigeria Working Again.
We recommend this form of decent politicking to Prof.
Osinbajo, even as we urge him to remember that as Vice
President, his words matter.
Atiku Presidential Campiagn Organisation
120, Adetokunbo Ademola Crescent
Wuse II
Abuja
Nigeria.
