The 87-year-old statesman made this demand while speaking virtually at the memorial lecture for Denis Joseph Slattery, a late cleric, in Lagos.

In his speech, titled The Imperative for Moral Rectitude in Governance, Obasanjo emphasized that the key requirement for anyone involved in governance is “accountability.” He argued that officials with “questionable” integrity are incapable of making decisions that benefit the greater good.

“If you look clinically at the people in government today at both executive and legislative levels, some of them should be permanently behind bars for their past misdemeanour and criminal misconduct,” said Obasanjo, who served as Nigeria’s head of state from 1976 to 1979 and later as president from 1999 to 2007. “You cannot expect thieves to give good judgement in favour of the owner of the property.”

Obasanjo also reflected on his shocking experiences with corruption, recalling how dishonesty was normalized in politics. “The first thing that shocked me when I went into politics was the level of corruption of election officials which was taken as normal,” he said. “The second was the level of general and criminal misbehaviour which was taken with levity and impunity. We were at a meeting and a man lied and I confronted him, and the next thing he said is ‘It is all politics, Sir’.”

Obasanjo lamented how politics has been used to justify unethical behaviour, adding, “Every bad thing they do is passed on as politics which means politics has no room for morality, principles, rectitude, ethics, good character and attributes.”

He concluded by urging Nigeria to seek “transformational leaders rather than transactional leaders, truth instead of lies, honesty instead of dishonesty, integrity instead of disintegrity, hope instead of despair, production instead of deduction, inclusion instead of exclusion and marginalisation.”

Breaking News:

Owerri Court Disqualifies 27 APC Chairmanship, 305 Councillorship Candidates Over Conduct of Primary Election
…Bars APC From Participating in Saturday’s LGA Poll

By Ekeh Chiemena, Owerri

A Magistrate Court sitting in Owerri, the Imo State capital has disqualified the 27 Chairmanship and 305 Councillorship candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the September 21 Imo State Local Government Elections over the party’s failure to comply with the Guidelines of the Imo State Independent Electoral Commission (ISIEC) in the conduct of its primary election.

The Court also barred the party, APC and its candidates from participating in Saturday’s Local Government election in Imo state.

In a ruling in the case with No. CR/OMC/635/2024 and instituted by aggrieved APC members, Her Worship, Ifunanya Ekwerike maintained that the All Progressive Congress ought not to be in the Local Government election because it failed to conduct Chairmanship and Councillorship primaries in line with ISIEC guidelines.

Earlier, some aggrieved APC Aspirants under, Forum of APC Chairmanship and Councillorship Aspirants in Imo State had approached Chief Magistrate Court of Imo State, in the Owerri Magisterial District over non compliance to electoral provisions.

The court delivered this judgement following a report of discrepancies in the conduct of APC Chairmanship and Councillorship primaries in Imo state for the purposes of the September 21st proposed local government election across the 305 Wards in the state.

It could be recalled that the Forum, through its state spokesperson, Barr Lucky Ikwubuo (Onye Eze) vowed that its members would do everything possible to ensure that APC does not participate in the Saturdays LGA Election following its refusal to conduct a transparent, free, fair and credible primary election after the party allegedly extorted them of money valued over 3 million each.

UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan will embark on his first official visit to the US as President on Monday, September 23, aiming to strengthen UAE-US ties.

During his meeting with President Joe Biden, the two leaders will focus on enhancing cooperation in key sectors such as the economy, investment, technology, renewable energy and climate action.

The UAE-US relationship, which spans more than five decades, is marked by robust economic ties, with bilateral trade reaching $31.4bn in 2023.

The US exported $24.8bn of goods and services to the UAE, marking a 19 per cent increase from 2022, resulting in an $18.3bn trade surplus – the fourth largest for the US globally.

The UAE’s trade with all 50 US states supports 166,000 American jobs, underscoring the economic significance of the relationship.

UAE-US collaboration across different sectors

Renewable energy will be a focal point, with the UAE’s Masdar company leading major investments in US states like Texas and California.

Read: Masdar acquires stake in US clean energy producer Terra-Gen

Technological collaboration is also critical, with partnerships between the UAE’s G42 and Microsoft Azure driving advancements in AI and cloud computing.

The visit will further address ongoing joint efforts in space exploration, with UAE entities working closely with NASA and US-based space companies.

The UAE’s investments in the US, valued at over $1tn, span sectors like real estate and renewable energy, contributing significantly to the US economy and job creation.

Ties are expected to deepen as Sheikh Mohamed and President Biden explore ways to enhance their countries’ shared vision for a sustainable and prosperous future.