Former President Obasanjo was jailed for attending the funeral of Jaramogi Oginga Odinga. Obasanjo has made the revelations in the third volume of his memoir My Watch, which was recently launched in Nairobi.
In a chapter titled ‘The Abaha Saga’, Obasanjo reveals how he was invited by Raila Odinga to attend the funeral rites of his departed father only to be locked up by Nigeria police following recommendations from the then ruling KANU regime.
“I was invited by Raila for the final funeral rites for his father, Jaramogi Oginga, and for the dedication of his mausoleum in Kenya,†writes Obasanjo.
“The instruction given to the security at the Nigerian Embassy and the report written by the Nigerian security in Kenya… it was to the effect that since Oginga Odinga was in opposition to the government of Kenya when he died, I had gone to Kenya to create problems for the Kenyan government by supporting the opposition, and the Nigerian government should restrain me from causing great problems between Nigeria and Kenya. I was interrogated on this same issue when Abacha arrested me.â€
President Sani Abacha served Nigeria between 1993 and 1998 having got to power through a military coup. In June 1998, he was found dead after a night with two Indian prostitutes imported from Dubai. The Chief of Army,Maj. Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar, then announced a return to democracy, leading to the election of Obasanjo as the new head of state and government.
Raila Odinga attended the book launch.