By 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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