In an 18-page letter dated December 2, 2013 Chief Olusegun
Obasanjo accused President Goodluck Jonathan Administration of incompetence,
abuse of office, corruption and gross mismanagement of the resources of the
nation. Apart from accusing the regime of celebrating criminality including
drug trafficking Chief Obasanjo has blamed the regime for the rising wave of
impunity, terrorism and ethno-religious strife in the country. No doubt, the
allegations which lacerated the controversial letter are weighty. Instead of
dismissing the contents of the letter the Presidency should respond to the
allegations raised therein seriatim. In particular, the allegation that the
Federal Government is setting up a Presidential Strike Force to carry out
terrorist attacks on political opponents should not be swept under the carpet.
However, it is pertinent to point out that President Jonathan is
a faithful student of the Olusegun Obasanjo School of Politics. While President
Jonathan has been accused by General Obasanjo of diverting $7 billion from the
Federation Account he (President Obasanjo) is yet to account for the over $20
billion which he diverted from the same account. The 36 state governments sued
the Federal Government over the illegal diversion of such huge public fund by
President Obasanjo and the case is currently pending at the Supreme Court.
The Senate recently indicted Presidents Obasanjo, Yaradua and
Jonathan for mismanaging the federation Account to the tune of N1.5 trillion.
The senate has recommended the revocation of the fraudulent privatization of
public assets carried out by President Obasanjo. The transcorp hotel was bought
by a sitting President through "blind trust" while the House of
Representatives indicted the Obasanjo regime for spending $16 billion to
generate darkness. Does President Obasanjo know any President who used public
funds to establish a private university and a presidential library through
extortion of funds from government agencies and contractors?
On disloyally to the ruling party President Obasanjo defied the
Supreme Court when it pronounced Senator Ararume as the gubernatorial candidate
of PDP for Imo State during the "do or die" general election of 2007.
The imperial presidency directed PDP members to vote for the candidate of the
PPA who "won" the election. In his book titled, “Accidental Public
Servant" Mr. Nasir El Rufai gave a vivid account of how President wanted
General Buhari of ANPP to nominate Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as his
Vice-Presidential candidate as a precondition for ditching the Presidential
candidate of the PDP, Dr Goodluck Jonathan during the 2011 General Election.
With respect to reliance on ethnic jingoists President Obasanjo
deployed the likes of late Lamidi Adedibu to terrorise and intimidate innocent
people in Oyo State. President Obasanjo equally entered into an alliance with
the Afenifere group to facilitate the capture of the south west region during
2003 General Election. When there was a threat to impeach President Obasanjo by
the House of Representatives the Presidency mobilised a faction of the Oodua
People’s Congress to threaten a break up the country. Was Anambra state not
made ungovernable by Chris Uba with presidential support? Did Obasanjo not know
of governors who had killer squads? Why were the members of the Abacha Strike
Force never demobilised and disarmed by President Obasanjo?
On the presidential involvement in the case of the fellow who
was recently acquitted in the charge of murder on technical grounds by the
Court of Appeal in Lagos it is on record that President Obasanjo also wanted
him freed for political reasons while he was in power. Indeed, he pressured the
Lagos State Government, in vain, to file nolle prosequi with a view to
terminating the case on the eve of the 2003 General Elections. Did General
Obasanjo not take part in another celebration of criminality in Lagos the other
day when a PDP chieftain completed his jail term. Did the General to turn round
to say that he was misled into believing that it was a "family
reunion"?
Does President Obasanjo have the moral right to advise President
Jonathan on how to convey a national conference? It is public knowledge that
President Obasanjo too was vehemently opposed to the convocation of a national
conference until he needed it for dubious political objectives. The Political
Reform Conference which he eventually convened collapsed due to the refusal of
the delegates to endorse the satanic Third term agenda of the President. Like
the report of the Chukwudifu Oputa Commission of Enquiry on human rights abuse
the report of the Political Reform Conference never saw the light of day.
In the aforesaid 18-page letter President Obasanjo did not
challenge the neo-colonial economic agenda of the Jonathan Administration which
has continued to pauperise the masses of our people. Hence the letter is not an
expression of disagreement over policy formulation or implementation of
programmes on the crises of unemployment, illiteracy, ignorance, hunger,
infrastructural decay etc. It is an intra-class feud which cannot enhance
democracy in the country. President Obasanjo has a penchant for writing letters
and granting interviews on regimes which he and other power mongers had
installed. He dismissed the regimes of President Shehu Shagari, Generals
Buhari, Abacha and Babangida and President Yaradua once they fell out with him.
After the election of the late Bashorun MKO Abiola as President did Genaral
Obasanjo not say that he was not a messiah? For goodness sake when did General
Obasanjo discover that President Jonathan is incompetent?
Finally, instead of celebrating the hypocrisy of frustrated
power mongers the Nigerian people should take advantage of the intra class war
going on in the ruling party to get organised and take their political destiny
in their own hands. The time has come to put an end to the opportunism of
discredited rulers who are in the habit of exploiting the frustrations and
disenchantment of the people to become emergency heroes. Enough is enough!
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