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.
http://www.punchng.com/news/obasanjo-bombs-jonathan/

#Waste of time ....bro Jona go just set up committee to review 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.”

bigtt76: #Waste of time ....bro Jona go just set up committee to review the letter

lolz no be small committee