Trending Video: What Obasanjo said about Atiku
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when the man finished i thanked him without passing any comment. the man was surprised at my reaction and asked you have nothing to say to these i said that i had nothing to say and i immediately called my adc chris jemitola to play a game of squash with me1 nigerias twitterati have been dredging out atikus testimonial as given by obasanjo who said in a bbc tv interview why he will never support atiku for nigerias highest office. he even stated the reason in his book about his eight-year presidency. watch the video1 all his plans appointments of people and his actions were towards the actualisation of his marabouts prediction. once i realised his intention and programme i watched him like a hawk without giving any indication of what i knew and letting down my guard. i could not succumb to the distraction diversion and malevolence of an ambitious but unwise deputy1 the work in hand was more important than a confrontational relationship with my deputy a man over whom i knew i had far more experience and outreach in all matters. to alert him of what i knew he was up to would only lead to lying denial more mischievous plans and more duplicity on his part1 he was better managed that way. what was important was not allowing myself to be surprised or outmanoeuvred by him. i must always seize the initiative and know what was going on if not in his mind but at least in his camp. that i did very effectively1 sometime in the fourth quarter of 2004 an associate of atiku came to my residence at the aso villa from atikus official residence. he felt uncomfortable and i tried to make him feel at ease. then he settled to tell me the story of what had just transpired in atikus residence. i listened with rapt attention1 the seven ingredients he needed for his enthronement were already in his hands. he controlled the national assembly because both the president of the senate and the speaker of the house of representatives were in his pocket. he controlled twenty-eight out of thirty-six governors. he had control of the media. his influence over the judiciary was overwhelming1 that was what i brought him for but he was impatient and over-ambitious. he was not ready to learn and to wait. his marabout who predicted that despite being elected as governor he would not be sworn in as a governor which happened also assured him that he would take over from me in a matter of months rather than years1 on our way to the squash court with my adc i said people at times make plans and leave god out of their plans. my casual remark struck chris and he said sir that was a profound statement. i said that i made the statement because of what i had just heard of atikus plan. i was not convinced he had put god in his plans1 he thought i was powerless and had no clue about the execution of his plan with his group part of his attack on me was for national chairman of the party to give the first salvo then other things would follow as his grip on the party would be firm and consolidated1 i spent that night writing my reply and i sent it in the morning. my reply was clear. i wondered why atiku and his group did not realise that with my reply the battle line was clear or maybe they thought that the seven ingredients would remain intact to the end1 my assistants had moles within the atiku group. anything that they planned would be reported. that was the case after ogbehs letter. they decided that ogbeh should appear remorseful and come with the national working committee to apologise to me. it was not from their hearts but to lure me to a killing ground1 timely information is a very important principle of war and also of politics. in politics just as in war what matters is not just your plan but knowledge of your opponents plan. knowing their plan i had the choice of playing along with them or being firm i chose the latter1 i told ogbeh that my relationship with him as national chairman and me as national leader of the party was based on mutual confidence and trust. but with his letter my reply and what i knew of him then i could no longer work with him in confidence and trust1