November 04, (THEWILL) – When Senator Emmanuel Nnamdi Uba otherwise known as Andy Uba, the candidate of the ruling party, All Progressive Congress in the November 6 Anambra governorship election, announced his desire to occupy the government house a second time, following his short-lived stay in it in 2011 as a member of the opposition party, Peoples Democratic Party, political watchers had assumed that former president Olusegun Obasanjo would undoubtedly throw his weight behind him.
This is because Uba was not only his domestic aide when he was president, he was one of the former president’s close confidants. Many assumed that being his former aide, a very powerful one for that matter, Obasanjo’s open endorsement and support for him would give Uba the boost his campaign needed, especially because of the apathy towards the ruling party in the south east. Instead, the reverse has been the case. Obasanjo is yet to openly endorse him, has shown no form of support so far and has more or less remained aloof about the goings on in the state as it relates to the gubernatorial election. Many have wondered at the reason for this with some assuming Obasanjo remained aloof because his former aide is vying for the government seat under the ruling party which he has vilified several times and by extension, the president, for derailing from their initial manifesto to turn Nigeria to ‘Eldorado’.
While that may be true, the real reason for his lack of endorsement and support for Uba goes much deeper. Uba’s penchant for greed cost him his once envious relationship with the former president. In a bid to pacify all interests and get them to align with him and support his reelection in 2019, just as they did in 2015, members of the president’s cabal allegedly approached Andy Uba who is perceived to be very close to Obasanjo to help carry out the assignment. He was allegedly given billions of naira for onward transfer to the former president to curry his favour and stop him from continually attacking the president.
In a greedy twist, Uba didn’t inform the former president of this but instead pocketed the money. He must have returned to the people who sent him on the errand and allegedly cooked up some lies about either completing his task or maybe requested for more money at the instance of the former president. No doubt, part of that money fueled his campaign. Unfortunately, Obasanjo got wind of this and allegedly confronted Uba who apologized for not informing him but insisted that the figure Obasanjo confronted him with isn’t the actual figure he was given to pass on to him, but only a fraction of it. An obvious lie no doubt. Furious that his trusted former aide could allow himself to be bought so easily and attempted to have him bought over as well, Obasanjo wondered why he took the money in the first place without his express approval. He allegedly asked him to return the money immediately.
Seeing that he had let the former president down, Uba tried all he could to apologize and seek his forgiveness but all entreaties fell on deaf ears. The more he tried, the farther Obasanjo kept away from him until he finally blocked all access Uba ever had to him. Now whether Uba eventually returned the money or not is a matter for another day. So bad did Uba crave for Obasanjo’s forgiveness that he allegedly reached out to some foreign friends of the former president. In particular, Uba reached out to an American diplomat based in Atlanta who was one of the two people who handled the former president’s foreign public relations campaign when he transitioned from military head of state to a civilian president. This diplomat promised to wade into the matter and get Obasanjo to soft pedal. So on one of those trips Obasanjo made to the US, this diplomat allegedly asked Uba to also come over. Both met and the diplomat allegedly tried to mediate but Obasanjo would have none of that. He was so infuriated that he almost attacked Uba and didn’t mince words expressing his displeasure at the diplomat for putting him in the same room with Uba who he has since written off for good.
As it stands today, except God personally comes down to intervene, the chances that Obasanjo will eventually forgive Uba is next to nothing.
About the Author
