Obasanjo bombs Jonathan
President
Goodluck Jonathan is under a fresh attack . This time, it is a
stinker from a former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo.
The Balogun of Owu, Abeokuta, did not
make an impromptu speech at a public forum, he took his time to pen what
he felt to be Jonathan’s failings.
In an 18-page letter to the
President, Obasanjo accused him, among other things, of not honouring
his words and taking actions calculated at destroying Nigeria.
The letter dated December 2, 2013 and
titled, “Before it is too late” became public knowledge on Wednesday.
Only on Monday, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu
Tambuwal, said Jonathan was paying lip service to the anti-corruption
campaign in the country.
In the letter, Obasanjo accused the
President of pursuing “ selfish personal and political interests based
on advise from his “self-centred aides.”
He also alleged that the President had
failed to deliver on his promises to Nigerians and to curb insurgency
and corruption in the country.
“Nigeria is bleeding and the hemorrhage
must be stopped,” an obviously angry Obasanjo lamented. He went ahead
to declare that “Jonathan had betrayed God and Nigerians,” who voted
him into power.
Obasanjo further alleged that Jonathan
had not only placed more than 1, 000 Nigerians on a political
watchlist, he had succeeded in destroying the ruling Peoples
Democratic Party and polarised Nigeria along regional and religious
lines.
He also said the President was involved in anti-party activities.
• PDP crises and Jonathan’s personal agenda
He said the President was using the PDP National Chairman, Bamanga Tukur, to cause the lingering crises in the party.
Obasanjo said, “Let me start with the
leadership of the ruling party. Many of us were puzzled over what was
going on in the party. Most party members blamed the national chairman. I
understand that some in the Presidency tried to create the impression
that some of us were to blame.
“The situation became clear only when
the national chairman spoke out that he never did anything or acted in
any way without the approval or concurrence of the party leader
(Jonathan) and that where the party leader disapproved, he made
correction or amendment, that we realised most actions were those of the
chairman but the motivation and direction were those of the leader.
“It would be unfair to continue to level
full blames on the chairman for all that goes wrong with the party. The
chairman is playing the tune dictated by the paymaster (Jonathan). But
the paymaster is acting for a definitive purpose for which deceit and
deception seem to be the major ingredients.”
Obasanjo stated that Jonathan’s failure
to keep his promise not to seek a second term had also worsened the
crises in the PDP.
“Up till two months ago, Mr. President,
you told me that you have not told anybody that you would contest in
2015. I quickly pointed out to you that the signs and the measures on
the ground do not tally with your statement. You said the same to one
other person who shared his observation with me. And only a fool would
believe that statement you made to me judging by what is going on. I
must say it is not ingenious. You may wish to pursue a more credible and
more honourable path.”
He added that before the 2011 general
elections, the President told some governors and the PDP
stakeholders, including himself, that he would not seek reelection.
He specifically mentioned Benue State
Governor Gabriel Suswam, as having told him that Jonathan accepted
not to run for Presidency in 2015.
The former head of state said, “ He
(Suswam) told me that you had accepted a one-term Presidency to
allow for ease of getting support across the board in the North. I
decided to cross-check with you. You did not hesitate to
confirm to me that you are a strong believer in a one-term of six years
for the President and that by the time you have used the
unexpired time of your predecessor and the four years of your
first term, you would have almost used up to six years and you would
not need any more term or time.”
According to the former Nigerian leader,
Jonathan’s failure to keep the promise had made him appear like a
man without honour.
Obasanjo told the President that it would be “fatally morally flawed” for him to contest in 2015.
He wrote, “As a leader, two things you
must cherish and hold dear among others are trust and honour both of
which are important ingredients of character. I will want to see anyone
in the office of the Presidency as a man or woman who can be trusted, a
person of honour in his words and character.”
The former President accused Jonathan
of supporting the candidates of opposition parties in governorship
elections in Lagos, Ondo, Edo and Anambra states and causing
disagreements between party members.
He said, “Maybe you also need to know
that many party members feel disappointed in the double game you were
alleged to play in support of party governorship candidates in some
states where you surreptitiously supported non-PDP candidates against
PDP candidates in exchange for promise or act of those non-PDP governors
supporting you for your election in the past or for the one that you
are yet to formally declare.”
He claimed that a former Lagos State
Governor, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu “was nocturnally brought to Abuja to
strike a deal for support “ for Jonathan’s personal election at the
expense of the PDP and its governorship candidate.
“If you as leader of the party cannot
be seen to be loyal to the PDP in support of the candidates of the party
and the interests of such party candidates have to be sacrificed on the
altar of your personal and political interest, then good luck to the
party and I will also say as I have had occasions to say in the past,
good luck to Goodluck,” he said in the letter.
• Insecurity/Boko Haram
Noting that the President had not been
able to tackle the remote causes of insurgency in the country,
Obasanjo again advised him to adopt “a carrot and stick approach” to
stem the problem.
He stated that “conventional military
actions based on standard phases of military operations alone will not
permanently and effectively deal with the issue of Boko Haram.”
• Factionalism/clannishness
Obasanjo also took on Jonathan for
being clannish and wondered why he had not quietened some Ijaw leaders
who publicly attack those opposed to his leadership style.
The former President said, “For you to
allow yourself to be ‘possessed’, so to say, to the exclusion of most of
the rest of Nigerians as an ‘Ijaw man’ is a mistake that should never
have been allowed to happen.
“Yes, you have to be born in one part of
Nigeria to be Nigerian if not naturalised but the Nigerian President
must be above ethnic factionalism. And those who prop you up as of, and
for ‘Ijaw nation’ are not your friends genuinely, not friends of Nigeria
nor friends of the ‘Ijaw nation’ they tout about.
“To allow or tacitly encourage people of
‘Ijaw nation’ to throw insults on other Nigerians from other parts of
the country and threaten fire and brimstone to protect your interest as
an Ijaw man is myopic and your not openly quieting them is even more
unfortunate.”
• Political watchlist
Obasanjo also alleged that the
President had not only placed more than 1, 000 Nigerians on a
political watch list, he had encouraged the “training of snipers and
other armed personnel secretly and clandestinely.”
He added that weapons were being
purchased them for political purposes and training given to them
where Abacha trained his killers.
The former President wondered why the Presidency was providing assistance for “a murderer” to evade justice.
He said, “Presidential assistance for a
murderer to evade justice and presidential delegation to welcome him
home can only be in bad taste generally but particularly to the family
of his victim.
“Assisting criminals to evade justice
cannot be part of the job of the presidency. Or, as it is viewed in some
quarters, is he being recruited to do for you what he had done for
Abacha in the past? Hopefully, he should have learned his lesson. Let us
continue to watch.”
Obasanjo did not give the name of
the but he was apparently referring to the former Chief Security
Officer to Abacha, Hamza Al-Mustapha.
• Corruption
Obasanjo called on Jonathan to take at
least, “one effective corrective action against high corruption which
seems to stink all around you in your government.”
He mentioned the recent allegation that
the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation failed to remit billions of
dollars in proceeds of crude oil sales to the federation account.
“This allegation will not fly away by non-action, cover-up, denial or bribing possible investigators,” he told the President.
He added, “Please deal with this allegation transparently and let the truth be known.
“The dramatis personae in this allegation and who they are working for will one day be public knowledge.
“Those who know are watching if the National Assembly will not be accomplice in the heinous crime and naked grand corruption.
“As head of government, the buck
of the performance and non-performance stops on your table and
let nobody tell you anything to the contrary. Corruption has
reached the level of impunity. It is also necessary to be
mindful that corruption and injustice are fertile breeding grounds
for terrorism and political instability.”
He also told Jonathan to do the right
things because God and Nigerians would hold him responsible for
“whatever happens and fails to happen in the country.”
“I have had opportunity, in recent times
to interact closely with you and I have come to the conclusion
painfully or happily that if you can shun yourself to a great extent of
personal and political interests and dwell more on the national interest
and also draw the line between advice from selfish and self-centered
aides and advice from those who in the interest of the nation may not
tell you what you will want to hear,” Obasanjo said.
The former President told Jonathan
that nothing, at this stage of his life, would prevent him from
standing up for whatever he considered to be in the best interest of
Nigeria, Africa and the world.
He added that he was ready for whatever reaction the letter would provoke from the Presidency.
He said, “Knowing what happens around
you, most of which you know of and condone or deny, this letter will
provoke a cacophony from hired and unhired attackers but I will maintain
my serenity because by this letter, I have done my duty to you as I
have always done, to your government, to the PDP, and to our country,
Nigeria.
“I have passed the stage of being
flattered, intimidated, threatened, frightened, induced or bought… Death
is the end of all human beings and may it come when God wills it to
come.
“The harassment of my relations and
friends and innuendos that are coming from the government security
apparatus on whether they belong to New PDP or supporters of
defected governors and which are possibly authorised or are the work
of overzealous aides and those reading your lips to act in
your interest will be counter-productive.
“It is abuse of security apparatus. Such
abuse took place last in the time of Abacha. Lies and untruths
about me emanating from the Presidency is too absurd to contemplate.
Saying that I recommended a wanted criminal by United Kingdom and
United States authorities to you or your aides to supplant legitimately
elected PDP leader in the South-West is not only unwise and crude
but also disingenuous. It is a clear indication of how unscrupulous
and unethical the Presidency can go to pursue your personal and
political interest.
The former Nigerian leader urged the
President to share the contents of his letter with former Heads of
State, Generals Abdulsalami Abubakar and Gen. Ibrahim Babangida as well
as a former Vice-President Alex Ekwueme and ex-Chief of Army Staff,
Lt.-Gen. Theophilus Danjuma.
He told Jonathan that he should do so
because Abubakar and Babangida had shared the concerns he raised in
the letter with him (Obasanjo).
Obasanjo said, “I crave your indulgence
to share the contents of this letter, in the first instance, with
Generals Babangida and Abubakar, who, on a number of occasions in recent
times, have shared with me their agonising thoughts, concerns and
expressions on most of the issues I have raised in this letter
concerning the situation and future of our country. I also crave your
indulgence to share the contents with Gen. Danjuma and Ekwueme, whose
concerns for and commitments to the good of Nigeria have been known to
be strong.”
Initial fear that the letter did not
emanate from Obasanjo was doused by his Chief of Staff, Deacon Victor
Durodola, who confirmed its authenticity to one of our correspondents.
Durodola said the elder statesman decided to write Jonathan despite their perceived close rapport.
“The reasons are already stated in the
letter, including where Baba (Obasanjo) said the last letter he wrote
was not even acknowledged; so, the reasons are there, about 10 of them.
So, he wrote the letter.”
He also confirmed that Obasanjo left
South- Africa on Tuesday after the memorial service for the former South
African President, Nelson Mandela.
But the Presidency described the allegations by Obasanjo as “most reckless, baseless, unjustifiable and indecorous.”
The Special Adviser to the President on
Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, who confirmed receipt of the
letter by the Presidency, added that it was “highly unbecoming,
mischievous and provocative” that it (letter) was deliberately
leaked to the mass media in an effort to impugn the integrity of the
President.
The presidential spokesman said in a
statement that Jonathan, at the appropriate time, would offer a full
personal response to the allegations.
The statement reads, “We have noted the
publication on several websites today (Wesnesday) of a letter recently
written by Chief Obasanjo to President Jonathan.
“The Presidency acknowledges that it has indeed received the said letter from Chief Obasanjo.
“We however find it highly unbecoming,
mischievous and provocative that a letter written by a former Head of
State and respected elder statesman to President Jonathan has been
deliberately leaked to the mass media in a deplorable effort to impugn
the integrity of the President and denigrate his commitment to giving
Nigeria the best possible leadership.
“While many patriotic, objective and
well-meaning Nigerians have already condemned the leaked letter as
self-serving, hypocritical, malicious, indecent, and very disrespectful
of the highest office in the land, President Jonathan has directed that
none of his aides or any government official should join issues with
Chief Obasanjo over it.
“The President himself will, at the
appropriate time, offer a full personal response to the most reckless,
baseless, unjustifiable and indecorous charges levied against him and
his administration by the former Head of State.”
The PDP, in a statement by Tukur also
called on Obasanjo to tread with caution. It said the letter was a
direct assault on the person of Jonathan.
It added, “ For such a statement against
the person of the national chairman of the PDP, to come from Chief
Obasanjo, a former head of state and President is most unfortunate.
“For him to insinuate that the President
is using the national chairman to cause multiple problems for the party
doesn’t in any way portray him as a true democrat.
“Obasanjo’s letter is certainly an attack on the personal integrity and credibility of Tukur
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