By Sam Egburonu Assistant Politics Editor
14th October

He told Saturday Independent in an exclusive interview in Lagos that the revelations would ultimately smear the "Mr. Super Clean" image Obasanjo had built over the years.

"If you look at the antecedents of these two people, the President has always been the one that has presented the image of Mr. Super Clean. He is the one that has presented the image of a born-again Christian, who every morning goes to fellowship in the chapel. Of course, I have always known him for this. Before he became the President for the second time, he used to attend such fellowships every morning in Abeaokuta. So, it is not something new to me. I have always believed in him as a born-again, as a man who is frugal, who is tight-fisted even with his own money. I have been a witness to him, counting every Kobo, when he was giving house allowance to his wife, Stella, like an old Egba man.

"But, certainly, that international image, as a founding member of Transparency International, is not the same again", he lamented.

To that extent, he said, "I am not happy for him, because he had spent all his life like a Mr. Clean. He had presented an image of the old brigade, only for us to be hearing unprintable stories today."

In the case of Atiku, who has been indicted by an Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) report, currently with federal lawmakers, he said, "Atiku would not be the loser. I do not see any serious court agreeing to all these claims of indictment as a result of pronouncements made by some junior officers, I mean appointed ministers, after trying an elected Vice President of Nigeria, and also conducting their investigations within 24 hours."

Describing the process through which the indictment of Atiku was made, Osoba asked, "what is the difference between this and the six legislators wanting to impeach Dariye? What I am against is that anything anybody is going to do, it should be done according to the legal provisions. There should be fairness. We must start to build institutions if we want this democracy to survive. This (illegality) is what I am opposed to. Secondly, I do not agree that the President and a few ministers should sit in one room and determine for me, who is qualified to rule this country. Let me be the one that would vote Atiku out if I believe that he is corrupt.

"Let them come to the public arena and campaign and tell us why they should be voted for and why anybody should not be voted for and let the people be the final judge. This is how it should be, not for a few ministers to sit down somewhere and decide that somebody is corrupt and so cannot rule the country. Is that democracy?"

The arrest and detention of some of Atiku’s aides, including Shehu Garba, also drew the ire of the former governor.

He queried, "why did he (Obasanjo) fight General Ibrahim Babangida’s government then for disqualifying the 23 presidential aspirants? Remember that they hung coup on the neck of President Olusegun Obasanjo. So, if they didn’t grant him pardon, would he be President today?

Osoba said today’s leaders must learn to be fair in their dealings and allow democracy to take roots in the country.

It would be recalled that the prolonged misunderstanding between Obasanjo and Atiku peaked recently when EFCC report indicted the Vice President.

Atiku has since dared the President to prove his innocence in the financial scandal. The matter is still with members of the National Assembly.