In what has been described as interferance in the domestic politics of Ghana, former Nigerian President Olusengu Obasanjo has been identified by our intelligent sources as the man behind the refusal of Nigeria to supply the Tema Oil Refinery with crude oil.
According to the intelligence sources, Obasanjo, who is still a colossus as far as political & economic might in Nigeria is concerned, is pulling strings behind the scene to ensure that in spite of President Mills' efforts, Ghana does not get crude oil from its big brother, Nigeria.
Firstly, Obasanjo is reported to have been unhappy at the NDC's electoral victory last year. According to the intelligence sources, the former Nigerian dictator donated a whopping $30million to the Nana Akufo-Addo campaign but it came to naught, thanks to the will of Ghanaians to kick a corrupt regime out of government.
Obasanjo is said to have been flagabasted at the decision of the then President J.A. Kufuor, who is his pal, to hand over power to the winner of the elections, John Atta-Mills.
"Obasanjo has on several occasion, in private, said if he was able to pull strings to get Umaru Yar'adua who did not perform well during the Nigerian elections to win it, then Kufuor should have ensured that Nana Akufo-Addo wins the election even through foul means especially since he won the first round of the elections," one of the intelligence sources told the Daily Post.
Obasanjo is said to be even more peeved at the way the NDC government has treated Kufuor so far, believing that by retrieving state cars in the ex-President's possession and refusing to give him a state building he had grabbed to use as an office, the NDC government is giving Kufuor a raw deal, for which he, Obasanjo, would retaliate by getting Nigeria not to give Ghana Crude oil so as to make the government unpopular.
The second reason why Obasanjo is pulling strings to ensure Ghana does not get crude oil is the refusal by the Ghanaian authorities to allow the controversial and mysterious Sahara oil to lift the crude oil from Nigeria on its behalf.
According to the intelligence, J.A Kufuor, ex-president of Ghana owns 45% share in Sahara and Obasanjo intends to ensure that if Nigeria would give Ghana any crude oil at all, then Sahara oil would be the one to lift it or Ghana doesn't get it.
Thus, in spite of President Mills' personal interaction with Nigeria President Yar'adua and several trips by Ghana's Minister of Energy and his deputy to Abuja, Nigeria, and in spite of assurance by the Nigerian authorities to give Ghana crude oil, the promise has never been fulfilled.
Currently, a vessel, MT Africa, loaded with 750,000 barrels of crude oil and which should have arrived in Ghana about a week ago is still stuck in Nigerian waters and though nobody knows why, Daily Post has traced the cause to the bias of Obasanjo against the ruling NDC government.
In a related development, Daily Post intelligence reports that Obasanjo has promised Akufo-Addo $60million to campaign for the presidency if he gets the nod of NPP delegates at the party's primaries to lead it into the 2012 elections.
Obasanjo, who has a house here in Ghana (located at the prestigious Trasco Valley in Accra) and often quietly comes to Ghana to rest is bent on ensuring that the NDC is kicked out of power come 2012.
More Anon
| Source: Daily Post |
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