...Wht I rejected Rimi nominated by Lar
...God would have punished me if I impose Atiku on Nigeria
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has expressed regret for appointing Alhaji Atiku Abubakar his running mate for the Presidential poll of 1998 and blamed his error on his insufficient information about him.
Although both Obasanjo and Atiku were 'Father and son' in their first term where Atiku was rated as the most powerful vice president in the whole world but the relationship collapsed on their heads over the ambition of the son to succeed his father when the father was not ready to quit power.
Obasanjo who made this disclosure in his latest controversial book, MY WATCH explained that he rejected the late governor of old Kano state, Abubakar Rimi nominated by the then National Chairman of the party, Solomon Lar.
On the eve of the Presidential primaries held in Jos, Obasanjo said Lar told him that his running mate would be Rimi but he was not satisfied with the arrangement but was not ready to rock the boat.
Obasanjo and Atiku
"...The party chairman, Chief Solomon Lar,told us that he had picked a running mate for me in person of Alhaji Abubakar Rimi from Kano. I knew Rimi very well when he was working at the Nigeria Institute of International Affiars, NIIA, in Lagos. From there, he joined politics under Mallam Aminu Kano and became a governor. He claimed to be progressive. From what I knew of him, I did not want him to be my running mate. I expressed that clearly to Solomon Lar who then decided that there would be no convention if I did not agree to his choice of a running mate for me. I was in a dilemma. Should I pack up and return home? What would be my explanation, that I could not manage just one issue of a running mate? How many more complicated issues would I have to confront as President? ...I went to Solomon Lar and said, 'If things are equal, your choice will be my choice but in life, invariably, things are not always equal. I will see what to do with the choice you made for me.'
Obasanjo then narrated further how he decided for Atiku and how Lar received his nomination.
"Since I did not announce the name of my running mate after the declaration of the primary election results, it had to be given serious and immediate attention. But I should I go about it? I decide to have a meeting with Solomon Lar, this time not alone with him. I invited Ahmed Joda, though not in politics as such, but a good friend that I trusted could speak the truth to anybody at any time; softly and painlessly. There was also Tony Anenih, so were Iyorhia Ayu and Sunday Awoniyi. Lar was visibly uncomfortable when he was these people. As I broached the subject, he stopped me and invited me outside for consultation. He accused me of wanting to disgrace him since he had promised Rimi that he would be my running mate. I explained to him that I accepted that he as the Chairman of the party and the party must have input into appointments, but my view and position must not be ignored in these appointments, as they would work with me. i reiterated all I knew about Rimi, which did not project him as a worthy number two to me. But to save Lar from the feeling of disgrace, I would do what I normally would not have done- count my chicks before they are hatched, that is, allocate ministerial appointments to anyone before I won the election. But as a spcecial case, I would appoint Rimi as Minister of Foreign Affiars. We ended the meeting on that note.
"Throughout the night, I thought and worked on a possible running mate. I had received different pieces of advice. Some had suggested picking a man or woman of my age who would not have ambition to succeed or upstage me. Some had suggested a person who by his ability and political position would not be an heir apparent. However, I decided to look for a person who could work with me for my full terms in office and understudy me so as to learn to take over and maintain continuity and consistence. I considered all candidates that were available and what I knew about them. I had earlier collected information about some to beef up my knowledge of them. That night, I settled for Atiku Abubakar. Some of the reasons were: he worked hard for the project, he never indicated interest in the job to me, he had worked closely with Shehu Yar 'Adua and Shehu never passed any advserse comment on him, he had been elected as a governor which already put him on the pedestal to move up politically, but he had been short-changed in the election that would have put M.K.O. Abiola in power, and he seemed to have some natioal outreach.
"What I did not know, which came out glaringly later, was his parental background which was somewhat shadowry, his propensity to corruption, his tendency to disloyalty, his inability to say and stick to the truth all the time, a propensity for poor judgment, his belief and reliance on marabouts, his lack of transparency, his trust in money to buy his way out on all issues and his readiness to sacrifice morality, integrity, propriety, truth and national interest for self and self interest. May be some of these traits and poor attributes are not easy to see until you work with the person concerned. And those who should tell would keep quiet so that they would not be accused of running others down.
"For instance, until later, when a distinguished chief from Bauchi pointed out to me the value of pedigree, queried Atiku's pedigree and blamed me for making a wrong choice. I did not pat attention to Atiku's parental background. Furthermore, until all efforts to help Atiku change failed- and having stumbled upon a report of inquiry carried out on him- I asked one of my predecessors why he did not inform me of how bad the report was and he said that he thought I knew. He said , 'This was a man I wanted to dismiss and jail but for the intervention of Shagaya and Shehu Yar 'Adua.' I took him at face value. However, if his appointment was an error, I fully accepted responsibility for the genuine mistake. And knowing all that I discovered about him, what would have been an unpardonable mistake and sin against God would have been to foist him on Nigeria. My mistake was containable and it was contained."
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