There is a growing unease in the
camp of the All Progressives Congress, APC presidential candidate,
General Muhammadu Buhari over the refusal of ex-President, Olusegun
Obasanjo to endorse him ahead of the Feb. 14 presidential election.
Equally
troubling, according to a report by Pointblank News, is the unending
animosity between the APC presidential candidate and former military
president, General Ibrahim Babangida. Buhari had in a recent interview
given indications that he is still not happy with Babangida for sacking
his military administration while Babangida, in turn, gave a veiled
endorsement to Buhari’s opponent at the presidential contest during a
visit of the Nigerian president to his Minna abode. Babangida had called
on Nigerians to vote for President Jonathan for the unity of the
country.
Though it is still not clear why Obasanjo is shying away
from endorsing Buhari, Pointblank News, quoting sources close to
Obasanjo suggests that the ex-president’s reluctance may be connected
with a report by the Petroleum (Special) Trust Fund (PTF) Interim
Management Committee, instituted by Obasanjo on July 7, 1999.
According
to the report of the committee, the PTF under Buhari’s supervision was
mismanaged. Though the report was never made public nor acted upon by
the former president. The Committee was said to have advised Obasanjo to
“set up a high powered judicial panel to recover the huge public fund
that was mismanaged and also take necessary action against any officer,
consultant or contractor whose negligence resulted in the colossal loss
of public funds.”
The report of the committee indicated that the
sum of N25, 758,532,448 was mismanaged by the Afri-Project Consortium, a
company contracted by the PTF as management and project consultants.
According
to the report, Buhari, as PTF chairman, was said to have also
“delegated to Afri-Projects the power of assume absolute control on PTF
to initiate, approve and execute all projects by the PTF.
APC
sources however say that the body language of Obasanjo is troubling to
the party because it is at variance with his earlier promise
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