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| DELE MOMODU |
Your Excellency, I’m convinced the time
has come to write you this letter despite the fact that I have some
measure of access to you. I decided to do this in order to tackle the
mischief makers who believe I’m your very close friend and as such must
be a rabid supporter of yours. I have been accused of all sorts of
garbage including being paid heavy sums of money from your bottomless
pocket. I’m aware that most of these guys can never believe that anyone
could stand up for principle without pecuniary gains. But before I go
into the meat of this letter, I need to state my background briefly as
I’m sure you don’t even know me well enough to understand and appreciate
my socio-political trajectory.
I have read all sorts about you and I
and it is necessary sometimes to put the records straight for the sake
of doubting Thomases who can never see anything good in others. You were
a Governor for eight years and I can’t remember ever meeting you one on
one. The only time I believe we exchanged physical pleasantries would
have been at the 70th birthday dinner hosted in honour of
your mother-in-law, Erelu Ojuolape Ojora at The Eko Hotel and Suites in
Lagos some years back. I remember seeing and greeting you and a few of
the former and current Governors present including Olusegun Osoba, James
Ibori, Babatunde Fashola and others.
I would later see one of the pictures I
took at the party and read many years after that I was busy drinking
champagne with James Ibori who was being wanted for several cases of
corruption and so on. I could not believe my eyes because the picture
showed clearly that I was chatting with Chief Olusegun Osoba while Ibori
minding his business behind me but someone needed to rubbish me for
reasons I could never fathom. Not just that, Ibori was still a Governor
and would I run away from a function or refuse to greet people so as not
to be accused of hobnobbing with corrupt leaders?
The next time I interfaced with you was
after you employed Mr Bamikole Omishore who was my American campaign
coordinator in Washington DC, when I joined the Presidential race from
2010-2011. I was happy that you got such a brilliant young man to manage
your social media. But you and I got closer for only one reason in the
past one year plus because we both campaigned vigorously for Major
General Muhammadu Buhari and you and Rt. Hon. Rotimi Amaechi were the
best of pals and he has been my friend long before he became Governor of
Rivers State. I loved the way you, Amaechi, Kwankwaso, Wamako,
Tambuwal, Atiku Abubakar, and others took the bold decision that would
change the course of Nigerian history for better or for worse when you
abandoned PDP despite threats and harassments. I must have met you about
twice in your Lagos home to strategise and was particularly impressed
with your ability to rally the likes of Aliko Dangote, Femi Otedola,
Wale Tinubu and others who ordinarily would have felt a need to support
the government in power. I was informed you were able to raise some
stupendous amount of money during and after the APC primaries. We talked
more on phone and you assured me constantly that everything was on
course. The rest is history.
However trouble started as soon as
victory came. I knew you had only one ambition and that was to become
the Senate President. I thought that was a legitimate dream but did not
envisage that it would turn out to be your albatross. Politics in
Africa, and probably elsewhere, is a deadly game. You’ve fought several
battles in your life but I doubt if you ever bargained for this one. It
all started like a joke. Your party apparatchik was obviously opposed to
your candidacy. You were equally determined to realise your life
ambition. One of the rumours then was that you could not be trusted with
power and that in the next four years you would have become unstoppable
if you decide to go headlong for the Presidency. I’m not a member of
your party so I could not understand what the hullabaloo was all about.
The manner you emerged caught everyone unawares. The biggest problem was
the fact that you sought and got the unequivocal support of members of
the PDP in the Senate and even did a deal that made it possible for one
of them to become your deputy. That was the hara-kiri you committed and
your enemies would never forgive you for that.
One thing led to another, and things
fell apart and the centre could no longer hold. You probably
underestimated the resolve of your enemies to cut you down to size. The
next we saw were allegations of impropriety levelled against you at the
Code of Conduct Bureau. You were said to have been dodgy in your assets
declaration forms. Anyway, it seemed you had touched the tiger by the
tail and it remained to be seen how you would wriggle out of the
monumental trouble you had inadvertently courted by your rebelliousness
and bellicosity. I was personally irked that we were back to the Nuhu
Ribadu days and I voiced my opinion openly. I was not defending you but
defending the rights of man. I had thought naively that APC knew what it
was getting into with an ill-assorted assemblage of different
characters from varied backgrounds. I presumed there was an accord that
all sinners became saints once they migrated and amalgamated with APC.
The deluge of immigrants from PDP convinced me that President Buhari
would have to sanctify the pollutants if any in the new party. Not once
did I hear of any objection to the proliferation so I assumed all was
well.
I never said you should not be
prosecuted but that we should discourage a situation where every
successive government uses anti-corruption camouflage to punish its
enemies. This position was not meant to protect you but to discourage a
perpetuation of such tradition. I wrote copiously against the harassment
of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu when he went on similar trial. I had
demonstrated publicly against the Yar’Adua cabal when they tried to stop
Dr Goodluck Jonathan from assuming power when his boss was terminally
ill. I remember also when I wrote an open letter to Mallam Nuhu Ribadu
in 2007 and how I was viciously attacked by his supporters. But what
happened after? Nuhu himself was forced into exile as a victim of
impunity. Mallam Nasir El-Rufai and The Emir of Kano Muhammadu Sanusi,
formerly known as Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, became veritable victims of
impunity and I was vehemently opposed to their ordeals.
I needed to state this background very
well as a way of documenting my modest contribution to the
discouragement of impunity as a former victim myself under the military
regimes. Now that it seems many Nigerians are comfortable with setting
fire to an entire village in order to catch some rats, I will not
belabour the issue further. Please, permit me to now address the case
at hand. I want you to know that no matter what you do henceforth, the
case against you will go on. The earlier you resign yourself to fate the
better. You have done all you can to prevent this from happening and
the time has come for you to defend yourself as best as you can. I
understand the psychological trauma you are under. You are in utter
shock that a party you laboured with others to build and nurture has
decided to treat you as a pariah. You are stupefied at the sudden turn
of events.
But let me advise you, the Judiciary is
still the best arbiter and if you’re truly innocent, you will be
vindicated but if you are found guilty after exhausting all legal
options available in the land you must take a bow and accept the
judgment with equanimity. Even if the APC decides to sweep this under
the carpet, someone may still bring it up tomorrow.
It is in your best interest to face the bullet and hope for a miracle.
I’m not one of those who have written off the Nigerian Judiciary. I will
also not join those who have already convicted you in the court of
public opinion. I’m a Christian and I know none of us can cast the first
stone and we should be careful not to gloat over anyone’s misfortune.
Please, note that you must do nothing to
pervert the course of justice by enacting hurriedly-packaged laws
ostensibly meant to block your trial. It will further diminish you and
make your sympathisers recoil in shame. To whom much is given, much is
expected. God has been very kind to you and as a Muslim you must submit
yourself only to the will of Allah, the only one who can forgive our
sins. Who knows what the outcome may be at the end of the day?
I beg you in the name of God to take courage. Stand like a man and carry your heavy cross.
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PLEASE BE POLITE