Peter Obi has released pictorial evidence of his role with the Abacha government.
Newsone Nigeria reports that the opposition arrowhead and 2023 Presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, has released an appointment letter showing the role the government of Sani Abacha assigned him.
This online news platform understands that Peter Obi’s pictorial evidence of his role with the Abacha government is coming after he dismissed speculations suggesting that he worked with the late military Head of State, General Sani Abacha.
The former Labour Party presidential candidate stated that he neither knew nor met Abacha during his time in power, emphasizing that everything he has done throughout his career remains in the public domain.
Obi clarified on Sunday while responding to questions during Channels TV’s Sunday Politics in the wake of recent allegations by Reno Omokri, a former aide to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, who accused Obi of working with the Abacha regime.
The former Anambra State Governor explained: “There was a time during Abacha’s government, because, you know, when Abacha took over, he said, all ports, and everything closed.
“So they came out with a policy that caused congestion in our ports. Goods were not being cleared, goods were not being exported, and everything. And some of us felt we needed to go and see the head of state then, or at least the Minister of Finance.
“So we came to Abuja, we had an audience with the Minister of Finance and the president, and we were able to elucidate the problem we are facing.
“The President then directed his Finance Minister that he should take some of us who are the leaders, should just form a committee to decongest all reports in Nigeria, make sure that in each committee, one of us is involved.
“That’s the only thing that had to do with the port. And then when we finished maybe two weeks, three weeks, they said it is now time to probe and reorganise the port.
“Because I have written in one of my comments that Nigerian Port Authorities, the only port I know in the world that have an office outside its country of operation, and couple that they’ve seen whether they said he will become a member of the panel.
“I have never met Abacha. I don’t know him. I know he was in military. Everything I have done in my life is in the public space.”
Some days after the interview with Channels Television, Obi has released a letter documenting his co-opting, along with others, into the Taskforce on the decongestion of the Ports.
Obi said Abacha, who ruled Nigeria from 1993 to 1998, was approached to seek pragmatic solutions to the matter affecting economic activity and livelihoods.
The letter reads thus; “In consonance with my established principles of defending everything I am involved in, and in the interest of all men and women of goodwill, especially those committed to the pursuit of truth, I hereby attach the letter which documents my co-opting, along with others, into the Taskforce on the decongestion of the Ports.
“As I stated during my interview at the weekend and consistently maintained in the past, I had never met General Sani Abacha before that encounter. Our meeting with him was borne out of collective concern as traders and importers over the prolonged delays in clearing goods at the ports. We approached him not as political actors, but as concerned citizens seeking pragmatic solutions to a matter affecting economic activity and livelihoods.
“Our intention was clear: to advocate for efficiency, and to propose practical steps towards restoring normalcy in port operations for the benefit of the wider business community and, ultimately, the Nigerian economy.
“This clarification is offered in the interest of truth, to reaffirm that our actions were driven solely by a sense of civic duty and not political ambition.
“I don’t expect this copious evidence to bury this Abacha case because the mischief makers have ulterior motives, but it’s being placed in the public space for posterity and in line with my transparency pledge to Nigerians on any issue I am involved in.”
See the appointment letter from the Abacha government below…