Obi Speaks On Engagement With Abacha

(AFRICAN EXAMINER) – Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party in 2023, has opened up about his past engagements with Sani Abacha, former military head of state.

The African Examiner recalls that Abacha was the military head of state from November 1993 to June 1998, and his administration was characterised by lots of corruption, mismanagement of public funds, and clampdown on human rights.

Some critics had alleged that the former Anambra governor was part of the political appointees of Abacha, hence he cannot completely distance himself from the issues with the administration.

Reacting to the allegations, Obi, on Wednesday, stated on his social media handles alongside a copy of a letter, which indicated that he and others were drafted into the taskforce team for port decongestion in Apapa, Lagos state.

According to him, he met Abacha when he and other traders met the ex-military leader concerning the decongestion of ports in the country.

“As I stated during my interview at the weekend and consistently maintained in the past, I had never met General Sani Abacha before that encounter. Our meeting with him was borne out of collective concern as traders and importers over the prolonged delays in clearing goods at the ports. We approached him not as political actors, but as concerned citizens seeking pragmatic solutions to a matter affecting economic activity and livelihoods,” Obi said.

“Our intention was clear: to advocate for efficiency, and to propose practical steps towards restoring normalcy in port operations for the benefit of the wider business community and, ultimately, the Nigerian economy.

“This clarification is offered in the interest of truth, to reaffirm that our actions were driven solely by a sense of civic duty and not political ambition.

“I don’t expect this copious evidence to bury this Abacha case because the mischief makers have ulterior motives, but it’s being placed in the public space for posterity and in line with my transparency pledge to Nigerians on any issue I am involved in.”

The letter, published by Obi, was dated April 24, 1996, and it was signed by the then Minister of Finance, Abu Gidado.

The letter titled: ‘Appointment as Co-opted Members of Taskforce on Ports Decongestion’ was addressed to the secretary of Lagos Commerce Association and Obi and Edwin Okeke were asked to serve at Apapa port in the letter.

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