OUR former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo claims he was tricked by Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain, Bode George to attend his grand thanksgiving service to mark his release from prison.

While celebrating his 74th birthday last Friday, Obasanjo said: “He(George) sent a passionate message to me from prison, urging me to attend a family church thanksgiving …(but) I found that the atmosphere was more than a family affair”.

It would have been tempting to believe Obasanjo, after all a jail bird like George could be up to a few tricks, but the truth is that the grand reception and thanksgiving to mark George’s return from a two-year stint in the Kirikiri Maximum Prison for billion Naira fraud, was well publicised in the mass media some two weeks before the event.

For instance, the Saturday Vanguard of February 19,2011 carried a feature on page 12 titled “Grand reception awaits Chief Bode George as he returns from prison next week”.

The feature carried details of the planned reception which include a huge motorcade to receive him at the prison gate and that: “Those who cannot come to the prison are expected to be at the church service or at his Ikoyi office in Lagos where he is expected to address a mammoth crowd of party men and women”.

The report further stated that: “Chieftains of the party from Abuja and other states of the federation are also expected in Lagos for the grand reception”. The newspaper on page 47, carried another full page report on the planned reception.

This time, it was an interview with the Secretary of the Lagos State PDP, Navy Captain Tunji Shelle (rtd) who boasted thus: “Let Lagosians come to Kirikiri (prison). They will see motorcades, convoys from the prison yard to the church, the Cathedral Church at Marina…there will be pomp and pageantry”.

So Obasanjo cannot claim that he was unaware of the grand reception and that Bode George tricked him into attending it. As a human being, Obasanjo could on reflection, have regretted attending the ceremony, publicly identifying with the obscene opulence on display and the lack of any remorse by the chief ‘celebrant’.

He can say so, and people will understand. But as a religious man, former choir master and pastor of the Aso Rock Villa Chapel and recently, a student of Theology at the National Open University, he should not bear false witness against his fellow PDP brother.

In any case, what was he , a self- acclaimed anti-corruption crusader doing at any thanksgiving service to welcome George, even if it were a family affair? Thanksgiving for what? That a culprit “successfully” spent time in prison? I do not mind a remorseful man doing thanksgiving, after all, prison is not primarily to punish, but to reform. But as Obasanjo himself confessed: “When he (George) was in prison, he was conducting himself like the Lord of the Manor”.

Obasanjo who claims to be the conscience of the PDP added: “I don’t see why PDP as a national party…would be celebrating criminality”. But that precisely is what he and the party have been doing. Both played a similar role when Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola celebrated his removal as governor of Osun State for having committed electoral crimes and stolen the people’s mandate.

If Obasanjo saw nothing wrong in felicitating with Agagu who was not sent to prison for his crimes, why does he need to apologise for attending George’s celebration given the fact that the latter served time for his crimes?

How can Obasanjo claim to be against criminality when his government used one quarter of the members of the Plateau State House to impeach Governor Joshua Dariye contrary to the constitutional provision which stipulates that at least two thirds of the House is required to remove a governor?

During Obasanjo’s administration, Chris Uba, a PDP chieftain who was close to him, rigged the Anambra State gubernatorial election, stole the electoral mandate, kidnapped a sitting governor (Chis Ngige) and allegedly aided the burning of a number of state government buildings but was never tried. Was that discouraging criminality or condoning it?

In Oyo State, PDP leader, Chief Lamidi Adedibu got Governor Rasheed Ladoja illegally impeached, used thugs to maim and kill scores of people, and to burn a number of government structures. Rather than bring him and his thugs to book, Obasanjo as president, praised him and told the victims that Adedibu is the “garrison commander” who must be obeyed. He went on to publicly proclaim Adedibu as his “leader”. Was that distancing himself and PDP from criminality or publicly identifying with it?

Who was more a criminal, Uba and Adedibu that got away with criminality or George who has been punished?
In decent societies, the conviction of a politician for crime, should be the end of his political career. But here is George who was found guilty on 47 counts of fraud being celebrated by the largest party in Africa.

What people like Obasanjo do not want to admit is that Bode George is a role model in the PDP; he is a party brand, and if the PDP wants to capture Lagos and the West during elections, it needs experienced strongmen like him to wrest control.

George as a military governor was not known to identify with probity, accountability or good governance and a man cannot give what he does not have.

From the grand reception, it is clear that the party and its followers, at least in the West, have a lot of faith and confidence in him and they are anxious that he settles down quickly to continue his ‘good’ works.

In fact, not a few of us await a some sort of pardon for him to wipe out his criminal past, enable him play a major role in the party, and be eligible to hold public office again. Perhaps he should once more be sent to chair the Nigeria Ports Authority Board so he can perfect his act; the creed is not, Thou Shall Not Steal, rather, it is Thou Shall Not Be Caught.