Senator Dino Melaye, APC, Kogi West, has accused former president Olusegun Obasanjo of introducing corruption into the National Assembly while pursuing a third term ambition.
Obasanjo had written to the leadership of the National Assembly, accusing the lawmakers of greed, graft and insensitivity to the country’s present economic state.
In an interview with The Cable, Senator Dino Melaye described Obasanjo’s letters as misplaced anger.
“I have tremendous respect for President Olusegun Aremu Okikiola Obasanjo. Elder statesman, respected pan-Africanist and committed patriot. The letter I can see is a misplacement of anger. Our leader is mistaking the Eighth National Assembly as the same Senate assembly that defrauded him in 2007.
“Those who collected his money and refused to implement the third term agenda. I appeal to Baba that we are not the ones please. After nine years of that bribery saga, the first of its kind, I expect forgiveness to have taken place.
“There was the case of bribery introduced by the Obasanjo regime in the desperate attempt to remove Speaker Ghali Umar Na’Abba from office then. In fact, there was open display of that bribery money on the floor of the House. That government exposed the National Assembly to corruption and easy money. I hope this is not an attempt to cover up and distract attention from the Halliburton and Siemens corruption allegations.
“While I am against corruption anywhere in Nigeria, I will not support accusations based on anger and vindictiveness. The Eighth Senate should also look inwardly and purge herself of all the deliberate misgivings of the past. Nigeria must work and we must support the anti- corruption stance of the Buhari administration,” Melaye said.
Dino. You simply miss the point. Obasanjo is not the president of Nigeria, neither is he a member of the National Assembly. All these I-am-a-thief-and-you-are-a-thief stuff is begging the question and very irritating. Dino. Don’t you have enough luxury cars in your garage? Why do you want to spend Nigeria’s money to buy more exotic cars while workers and pensioners are not being payed their salaries and dues in the states and local governments, and graduates ride okada to survive! As a strong participant in the Legislative coup that brought Saraki, Ekweremadu and Dogara to power, you are advised to advise them to expunge all unwholesome aesthetic and offensive allocations from the budget and curb the proclivities of the National Assembly members to feed fat on the nation’s lean resources. What Nigerians want is a legislature that earns sitting allowance and no more.