Former Governor of Ogun State, Chief Olusegun Osoba has explained that, a tactical politician must embrace wasteful spending, and to learn to buy all kinds of lies, which are all part of politics.
Penpushing reports that, Osoba stated this on Wednesday while speaking at book launch titled, ’Colours of Perception’ authored by his former Chief Press Secretary, Chief Kayode Odunaro, an event held at marquee events centre, Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, Abeokuta.
The former Governor recalled that, he was rigged out of 2003 governorship election with forged elections results by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), in favour of the opposition party, despite huge sum of money he spent on the election.
‘Nobody expected that the election would go the way it went, but I knew it will go the way it went because Prof. Adu of FUNAAB who was the returning officer said the figure had already been prepared’, Osoba explained.
‘Some of the security people had given me the figure of the result that they were going to announce and I knew, he was referring to me spending money and some people taking my money to sleep in hotels, pocketed the money’,
‘I knew because in politics you must learn to na ina ku na (engage in wasteful spending) and you must learn to buy all kinds of lies, that is all part of politics. I knew that the election was concluded, I was warned, the electoral officer from Cross River had told me after the Presidential election that, ‘Chief don’t contest the governorship, it is concluded’, but I said no, he said.
‘We shared N140million on the eve of the election and I knew it was a wasted money, but I shared it because if didn’t share it, they will say if I had not given them the money, they would have won’, he recalled.
‘So when my son was contesting, I said now you want to contest the House of Representatives, now you are going to ride on the N140million that you quarreled that I spent at that time because those that I gave the money to, whether they chop it or not, now you are going to enjoy the goodwill’, Osoba added.
Penpushing further reports that, he said he had put the 2003 election behind him, adding that many people were surprised that he didn’t go to court inspite of overwhelming evidences against the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)
‘The 2003 election I have put it behind me many years ago. 2003 is bygone whatever happened. Let us let’s forget about all that, it has gone, it is gone and the Ogun state people have had the chance to compare and contrast and they have given their conclusions and that is private to everybody’, he added.
Penpushing also reports that, Osoba speaking on the author said he is courageous man, and highly cerebral, adding that when administration of his successor was trying to blackmail him(Osoba) ,his former Chief Press Secretary engaged the government robustly at the risk of his life
‘Odunaro came in as a courageous character. I have never seen a man could take such courage. When I left office, he was some of the people I took pity on and put on my payroll. He engaged my successor robustly’.
‘They (successor) set to blackmail, to destroy all that we did, but at every point he would come out with a robust statement with facts, figures and everything at the risk of his life. We all know what happened after we left office, the kind of things that some governments were doing all over the country, how people were missing, yet Odunaro took the risk of engaging that government to the point that my successor had to invite him and the Governor was trying to cajole him to snatch him away from me, but again he stood his ground’, Osoba stated.
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