₦airaland Forum

d. Chief Security Officer of the Nation

It is pathetic that Chief Obasanjo’s sense of history could be so easily demented. Without extending the searchlight to other trouble spots, we wish to recall the ineptitude and abysmal failure of Chief Obasanjo’s strategies in managing the militancy in the Niger Delta area. Even when the activities of militants brought the economy to knee-jam and oil production plummeted from 2.5 million barrels a day to 700,000 barrels a day, his barking bull strategies brought no solution to the crisis. It took the sagacious strides of late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua/Jonathan, working with critical stakeholders, to make peace without spilling blood and today Nigeria is the better for it, with greater capacity to meet government obligations because of enhanced revenue profile from increased foreign receipts. So where is Chief Obasanjo’s pedigree in managing crises?

Another gory absurdity is Chief Obasanjo’s allegation that President Jonathan is training snipers where Abacha trained his killer squad and that there are about 1000 high profile politicians on a watch list. For an allegation as weighty as this we are sure Chief Obasanjo knows the import of the law for such blatant insinuation that qualifies for libel. Chief Obasanjo should know, if he does not already, that the onus of proof lies on him. We demand that the relevant security agencies like NSA, Directorate of State Security (DSS), Nigerian Intelligence Agency (NIA), the Nigeria Police, should immediately take decisive appropriate action to investigate this very sensitive national security issue and make their findings public. The security services must carry out this investigation with dispatch because we suspect that there is a grand plan to assassinate some high profile Nigerians, in the context of this very dangerous allegation, to intimidate and coerce President Jonathan to abdicate his right to contest in 2015. To us it merely shows that our aging Owu Chief certainly deserves more rest at Ota to avoid going beserk.

However, Nigerians will continue to hold Chief Obasanjo accountable for the several high profile unexplained killings for which no culprits have been unearthed years after. Notable among the list of those assassinated without conclusive investigations under Chief Obasanjo’s watch were Chief Bola Ige, Obasanjo’s first Minister of Power and later Minister of Justice and Attorney General; Chief Marshall Harry; a former National Vice Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party; Chief Aminasoari K. Dikibo, also a former National Vice Chairman of the PDP; Chief Funsho Williams, a former PDP governorship aspirant of Lagos state; ChimereIkoku and a number of other unexplained deaths.

In contrast to Chief Obasanjo’s alarmist averments the most dreadful security challenge today remains the Boko Haram sect which, in itself, devolved from Chief Obasanjo’s dereliction of his constitutional duty to guarantee the secularity of the Nigerian state. And of course we need to be mindful of Chief Obasanjo and his ilk whose appetite for uprisings and revolutions akin to the Arab Spring seems to be growing proportionately daily. Chief Obasanjo should be reminded that if Nigerians were to agitate for a revolution, and particularly the Ghanian type, Obasanjo and his likes would not be spared the wrath of Nigerians.

e. Political Leader of the Country

No President of Nigeria under our democratic dispensation has been more Nigerian in disposition and conduct than Dr. Goodluck E. Jonathan. It is unfortunate that Chief Obasanjo could degenerate to fan the embers of ethnicity in such an insidious and reckless manner. For a man who claims to be a detribalized Nigerian to infer that no other minority in this country could be entrusted with the leadership of the country, because of his myopic assessment and conclusion that President Jonathan has not performed to satisfy his whims, evinces clearly a chronic obsession of hate. But we must remind Chief Obasanjo that Nigeria is not an enterprise of an oligarchy and that the days of hegemonic rule are gone. Chief Obasanjo should extricate himself from the garb of narrow mindedness and pettiness and be broad in his perceptive values. Nigeria belongs to all, majorities and minorities alike.

On the fight against corruption, we observe that the agencies tasked to deal with corruption must be given a free hand to work. If the EFCC is hamstrung to perform its assignments creditably then we shall be concerned. Today neither the EFCC nor ICPC is pressured and tele-guided to pursue perceived enemies. The reported concern, raised by the Central Bank Governor, over unremitted accruals of about $49.8 billion is being reconciled by a joint team of NNPC, FIRS, DPR and CBN. Chief Obasanjo should have shown a more statesmanlike conduct and decorum before dancing to the public gallery. As it has now been revealed, with the false alarmist, CBN Governor Sanusi Lamido Sanisu publicly apologizing, the joint reconciliation exercise has confirmed that only $10.8 billion is yet to be reconciled even as the exercise is still on going. Clearly, the initial claim was a false alarm orchestrated to incite the general public against President Jonathan, and Chief Obasanjo also demeaned himself to join the foray of dubious whistle blowers.

Till date no Nigerian, excepting Chief Obasanjo, has seen a presidential reception organized in honour of Major Al Mustapha. Whereas Chief Obasanjo thinks that every sitting President obstructs the course of justice as was his own mercurial practice, President Jonathan has continued to show maximum resistance to interfere with the judicial process. It is only in the imagination of Chief Obasanjo that the Presidency celebrated Major Al Mustapha’s release. This is understandable since he must loathe Al-Mustapha for his incarceration by Abacha for life imprisonment.

What Does Chief Obasanjo Want?

In all these posturing of sainthood and angelic patriotism, what does Chief Olusegun Obasanjo aim to achieve? We state that Chief Obasanjo’s letter is at best self-serving and holds no grain of patriotism and national interest. Through this blatant charade of promoting falsehood, innuendoes and untruths, Chief Obasanjo attempts to raise a mob action against President Jonathan, a crafty follow-up to the rebellion he used the G 7 governors he planted in the states to stir up crisis in the PDP in order to stop Jonathan in 2015. Since he considers time to be running out he needed to commence the campaigns for his anointed protégés. For Chief Obasanjo’s project to succeed, President Jonathan must be destroyed first, in the court of public opinion.

Nigeria is not a fiefdom in the stranglehold of Chief Obasanjo. If he chooses to squander his privileged opportunities to offer leadership to this country, and to think he can rule Nigeria like his private estate from everywhere, he has failed. Must Chief Obasanjo continue to breath hard on President Jonathan because he claimed he made him President? Even so, that is not a stand- alone act because Chief Obasanjo himself was a beneficiary of God using Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, Gen. Theophilus Danjuma and Gen. Abdulsalami to make him President in 1999. Even his emergence as Head of State in 1976 was the sacrifice of Gen. Danjuma and others. These people never publicly dictated to him how to govern Nigeria. Most importantly, they never did anything to bring him into public odium despite the numerous problems his administration created for the polity.

While we know that politics is a game of numbers, we would also hastily add that no one person can make a President; it is the people of Nigeria that can decide who should become their President, as God wills. If Nigerians think President Jonathan has delivered on his electoral mandate, they can freely entrust him with another mandate and that cannot be subject to the whims of any Chief Obasanjo. We therefore urge President Jonathan to remain focused, undeterred and committed to delivering on his transformation agenda.

Chief Obasanjo having succeeded in persuading his cronies to stir unending controversy within the ranks of the PDP, and indeed the nation is certainly on a mission to destroy the party, truncate our hard won democracy and plunge the nation to cataclysm for his personal gain. We therefore call on the leadership of party to take decisive action against him as nobody is greater than the party. Chief Obasanjo to all intents has demonstrated more anti-party activities than any one else in the history of PDP.
THE END
http://premiumtimesng.com/news/151868-ex-senate-president-writes-obasanjo-blasts-ex-president-letter-president-jonathan.html

b. Headship of the Federal Government

It is perfidious for Chief Obasanjo to set the National Assembly against President Jonathan in discussing corruption. Let it be stated from the onset that we do not endorse corrupt practices in any form; in fact it is our position that President Jonathan should deal decisively with all proven corruption cases regardless of whose ox is gored. However, it is common knowledge that corruption attained monumental heights under the regime of Chief Obasanjo as President. Chief Obasanjo presided over the proceeds of Nigeria’s oil and gas for six years, without transparent accounting as the de facto Minister of Petroleum Resources. To perfect his plan, he appointed his kinsman and protégé Engr. Kupolokun who had retired, to serve as the Group Managing Director of NNPC. Nigeria’s oil and gas revenue was helplessly at the discretion of the duo. Where was accountability and transparency? It will be recalled that the CNPP petitioned the EFCC to investigate Chief Obasanjo as President for an estimated unaccounted sum of $133 billion in oil revenue from 2000 to 2006, the period he was the de facto Minister of Petroleum Resources.

We are inclined to think that part of the reasons for Chief Obasanjo’s double-standard romance with President Jonathan is the latter’s audacity to reopen up investigations, earlier ordered by late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua into the Haliburton bribery scandal. If Chief Obasanjo’s former Personal Assistant, Mr. Bodunde Adeyanju, could be interrogated over allegations of millions of dollars bribery scam, it is more like the hand of Jacob and the voice of Esau. So where does Chief Obasanjo derive the moral qualification to accuse another government of corruption? When a sitting President influences major business tycoons who do business with government to launch and build a multi-million naira library in his village in his name, what does that amount to? When a sitting President, Chief Obasanjo, suddenly becomes a shareholder in Trans National Corporation of Nigeria Plc, a diversified conglomerate, owners of Transcorp Hilton and several oil and gas assets, what does that amount to? It should be in the normal course of business for a President. What accounted for the sudden transformation of the Ota farm, which had become the habitat for reptiles and weeds before Chief Obasanjo became Presidentin 1999? Or are Nigerians quick to forget the missing N2.8 billion under the watch of Gen. Obasanjo when Gen. Buhari was the Federal Commissioner of Petroleum Resources?

While Nigerians accuse the regime of Gen. Ibrahim Babangida of institutionalizing corruption, it is common knowledge that Chief Obasanjo planted the seed of corruption and elevated it to unimaginable heights.

On the claims by Chief Obasanjo that the economic performance indices are dangerously sliding, that is nothing more than a self-serving statement. Even the International Monetary Fund adjudged the Nigerian economy to be performing relatively better, with a GDP at 6.75%, the highest growth rate in Sub-Saharan Africa. And we are convinced that the Jonathan administration is doing everything to make the observed economic growth all-inclusive in the light of the policies and strategies being initiated to tackle the problem of unemployment and poverty eradication.

Nigerians of good conscience can all attest to the relative improvement and stability of electricity supply; the recent unbundling of PHCN and licensing of electricity distribution companies will no doubt enhance electricity supply to consumer I in the coming months and this will invariably positively impact both the manufacturing and small-medium scale businesses. Also, the resuscitation of collapsed infrastructure in the Aviation sector by the Jonathan administration has been a source of pride to Nigerians. The hitherto moribund rail transport system for which Chief Obasanjo pumped so much billions has been successfully revived. Nigerians now travel from Lagos to Kano by train.

God, in his divine grace, blessed Chief Obasanjo with incomparable opportunities of leadership to drive the fortunes of our country to enviable heights but the evident result is that the progress of the nation is impeded as he left only relics of collapsed infrastructure, monumental corruption, debased national psyche and a disillusioned polity. The myriad of problems and challenges bequeathed by the administration of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo have made the work of nation building inexorably difficult for his successors.

The Jonathan administration is not only way ahead of the Obasanjo one in terms of recorded and visible achievements measured against the funds deployed but also has had positive impact on the lives of the citizenry.

c. Commander-in-Chief of the Military

To all discerning public observers, there is no argument that President Goodluck Jonathan has employed the adroit strategies and demonstrated statesmanship in the handling of critical national challenges, deserving of a democratically elected President. Because he knows his primary responsibility to the people is protection of their lives and property, President Jonathan’s style has not only assisted in sustaining our fragile unity as a country but has made him no less a Commander-in-Chief.

Given the destructive tendencies that characterized Chief Olusegun Obasanjo’s rule as President during which period human rights abuses and defiance of the rule of law were the norm,we are at a loss to unravel the import of Chief Obasanjo’s assertions in this respect. As stated earlier, Chief Obasanjo’s impulsive decisions culminated in the destruction of communities, killing and maiming of innocent lives by the Nigerian military at the least provocation. That was the case of the sleepy town of Odi in Bayelsa State, which was completely destroyed because of the activities of a few miscreants that led to the death of some Police officers. So too was the case of Odioma town also in Bayelsa state. Today, the Federal Government is to pay N37.6 billion in compensation to the people of Odi, as ordered by the Federal High Court, for that tactless act of a President. Similarly, Chief Obasanjo deployed heavy military arsenals to trouble spots in Benue state and destroyed, maimed and killed innocent people in Zaki Biam town, and other towns in Katsina-Ala LGA and Logo LGA. Whereas the military deployed by Chief Obasanjo never went after any of the suspected criminals but to kill innocent citizens, President Jonathan’s humane characteristic ensured that no innocent citizen was deliberately affected by the activities of the military. The purpose being to curb the Boko Haram insurgents, Nigerians are relieved that about 500 insurgents are to be arraigned. A remarkable difference in strategy and tact!

Nigerians are also not in a hurry to forget how the apparatus of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was deployed in the name of fighting corruption to hound perceived political opponents. The selective approach in the fight against corruption made a mockery of the entire anti-corruption exercise as loyalists were shielded and enemies persecuted.

And so who has indeed deferred to the sacrosanct role of the military in the best interest of the nation, a Chief Obasanjo who recklessly deployed military might to kill innocent Nigerian souls or a President Jonathan who deploys tact in dealing with restive spots to minimize collateral damage, even in the light of a far more sophisticated, hitherto unknown security outfit, the Boko Haram group? Interestingly, when Chief Obasanjo declared a state of emergency in Plateau state, he gave no respect to the preservation of the democratic institutions. In contrast, when the Boko Haram inspired insurgency in some parts of the north unabatedly threatened the peace and stability of the country, President Jonathan went on a wide range of consultations with all stakeholders before declaring a state of emergency. Hence today, all democratic institutions in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe States, the frontline states where President Jonathan declared a state of emergency have remained functional. A true democratic practitioner!

Read Mr. Ebute’s full letter below.

SENATOR AMEH EBUTE, CON

(FORMER SENATE PRESIDENT)

31/32 MANGAL PLAZA, AREA 11, GARKI, ABUJA

08090880656

18thDecember, 2013

RE: BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE

Preamble

As discerning Nigerians who found the so-called “before it is too late” letter from Chief Olusegun Obasanjoto President Goodluck E. Jonathan, GCFR, ill-conceived, we decided to deconstruct the content to see if it meets the minimum demands of altruistic advice, given the writer’s pedigree as a former President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, an elder statesman. In doing this we were not unaware of the several public commentaries and reactions from a cross section of Nigerians, some of which posit that Nigerians should ignore the messenger and take the lessons from the message giving the critical weight of the issues raised. Much as this position may appear germane, it needs to be understood that whereas it is possible to separate the messenger from the message, it is nevertheless impossible to comprehend the meaning of a message without reference to the motive or intention of the messenger. The veracity and/or reliability of the message in the context of the motive could only be drawn if the messenger is altruistic in his motive.

Since Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, Nigeria’s one time military Head of State and former President, claims to be speaking from the rostrum of high moral rectitude because of his “overt” love for Nigeria, it is only apposite that in deconstructing the contents of the letter, without prejudice to the pleas of several public commentators, we glean the moral integrity and character qualifications of the messenger as a test of the reliability and value of the message. This is because whether we like it or not Chief Obasanjo’s vituperations have not only over-heated the polity but brought the nation to anaemic convulsion.

Chief OlusegunObasanjo’s ill-conceived letter no doubt is an open assault on the seat of power in Nigeria. For a former President who has unimpeded access to the President to nakedly dance this danse macabre in public on grounds that former letters written by him had not been replied only affirms what Theodore Roosevelt describes as the dangers of lack of morals when he said “to educate a man in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace to society”. Whether former President Obasanjo, has now become a menace to the Nigerian political landscape or otherwise would be better judged by discerning minds. But to us, he has merely epitomized the prescriptions of Noel Coward: “the higher the building the lower the morals”.

Further as Thomas S. Monson would remind us, “the surest test of an individual’s integrity is his refusal to do or say anything that would damage his self-respect”. Hence, in developed democracies, former Presidents hardly ever comment publicly on the policies and actions of their successors, evidently in deference to self-respect. They seek and utilize latent channels to communicate and offer their advice. And if we take to heart what Mark Twain said about character, “a man’s character may be learned from the adjectives he habitually uses in conversation,” then given Chief Obasanjo’s deleterious history of publicly criticizing heads of government in office that ended in ominous consequences, Nigerians should be circumspect and be resolved in one accord to defend our hard-won democracy.

As an obsessed letter writer, Chief Obasanjo may unwittingly view his tirades against sitting governments as building a legacy to be celebrated when he departs; he does not see the effects of debasement, deformation, destruction, disunity, hatred and defamation in his actions. Selfless leaders with character build peace, build harmony, build unity and build love. However, it appears our erstwhile President has lost it all. Like what Billy Graham said, “When character is lost, all is lost”.

Leadership in its broad spectrum is fraught with complex challenges, and nations that are progressively built always find patriotic leaders come around to contribute positively to governance and not indulge in self-adulation. Let us now evaluate the three (3) year old administration of President Goodluck Jonathan vis-a-vis Chief Obasanjo’s cumulative eleven years in office in the context of the five (5) prerequisite capacities of a President of the Federal Republic which Chief Obasanjo identifies, to wit: Leadership of the ruling party; Headship of the Federal Government; Commander-in-Chief of the Military; Chief Security Officer of the Nation; and Political Leader of the country.
a. Leadership of the Ruling Party:

It is ridiculous that Chief Obasanjo, a self-acclaimed democrat, should accuse President Goodluck Jonathan as the one responsible for the lingering crisis in PDP, which pre-dated his emergence as the leader of the party. President Jonathan’s alleged crime is his refusal to publicly denounce those craving his return in 2015. Chief Obasanjo further accused President Jonathan of clandestinely dictating the actions of the party Chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur. These unsubstantiated claims posit a curious but intriguing parallel and calls for self-examination on the part of the Owu Chief.

When in 2002, before INEC officially signaled political activitiesfor the 2003 elections, posters and propaganda materials adorned all nooks and crannies of Nigeria for Chief Obasanjo’s re-election, how many of such people did he publicly denounce? Even when it became open knowledge in 2005 that Chief Obasanjo surreptitiously attempted to use his cronies to insert in the output of the National Political Reform Conference a clause to elongate his tenure for a third term, since he thought it was only he who had the single inalienable right to rule Nigeria for life, did hereunder any public denial?

Chief Olusegun Obasanjo has no moral credentials to accuse President Jonathan of responsibility for the travails of the PDP. These crises, as earlier noted, predate the incumbent leader of the party. Perhaps to refresh Chief Obasanjo’s memory, let him be reminded that Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu’s recourse to forming his own political party (PPA) to provide a platform for his nominee to contest the 2007 elections was a direct outcome of Chief Obasanjo’s arm-twisting military style to force him out of the PDP. The party eventually lost Abia State. Even as a presidential candidate, Chief Obasanjo reportedly lost his own ward and a number of South-West states in the 1999 elections. As the “emperor” of the Nigerian state, his back-handed defiance of democratic electoral process brought victories to PDP in some South-West states which could not endure. We eventually saw the so-called PDP victories upturned through the judicial process because, when he was the leader of the party, Chief Obasanjo could not secure defensible victories.

No period in the history of our fledgling democracy has witnessed a higher turnover of PDP National Chairmen than the eight year tenure of Chief Obasanjo as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. First, soon after the late Chief Solomon Lar steered the PDP to victory in the 1999 Presidential election, Chief Obasanjo booted him out of office. And of course the well-respected frontline contributions of the late Chief Sunday Awoniyi to the electoral fortunes of Chief Obasanjo had deservingly positioned him to succeed Chief Solomon Lar, yet our maverick democrat not only frustrated the elder statesman out of the chairmanship of the party but also ensured his untimely retirement from politics. Even Chief Barnabas Gemade, whom Chief Obasanjo backed to thwart Chief Awoniyi, was soon to be replaced as Chairman by Chief Audu Ogbeh, a very outspoken, purposeful and visionary leader, who craves for a peaceful and progressive Nigeria.

Chief Ogbeh was reportedly forced to resign as Chairman after having lunch with President Obasanjo. His offence was that he assumed the gauntlet to advise President Obasanjo to investigate the security challenges in Anambra state that threatened the life of Governor Ngige at the time. Interestingly, all these chairmen were elected for definite tenure as prescribed by the PDP constitution.

As Chief Obasanjo bestrode the PDP like an intimidating colossus, electoral decency was jettisoned, internal democracy trampled upon and good conscience buried as he dealt ruthlessly with all perceived enemies regardless of democratic culture and ethos. The following casualties of his high-handed leadership are dead and living testimonies: late Sen. Chuba Okadigbo; Sen. Ayim Pius Ayim; Gov. Peter Odili whom he used, milked and dumped; Gov. Joshua Dariye; Gov. Orji UzorKalu; Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi; Gov. Gbenga Daniel; Dep. Gov. Mukhtar Shagari; Gov. Attahiru Bafarawa; Gov. D. S. P. Alamieyeseigha; etc.

Therefore if upholding the rule of law and the Constitution of the Peoples Democratic Party is basis for accusation of the Presidency masterminding the PDP crisis, we are not convinced that President Jonathan has conducted himself in an unpresidential manner to attract these unwarranted innuendoes in any way.

It bespeaks a deep-sounding hollowness for Chief Obasanjo to make allusion to the fact that the crisis in the PDP is premised on whether President Jonathan should exercise his constitutional prerogative to contest elections in 2015. He is clearly on a protectionist mission, to create sufficient disaffection within the PDP to facilitate the emergence of his preferred candidates.

Nobody is against the aspirations of anybody to any elective office. Indeed, that is the beauty of democracy, where people freely chose to contest and are voted for. But why must an elder statesman embark upon such an unprovoked voyage of denigrating the person occupying the most exalted office in the land simply to make a point for his preferred candidates to take over? It must be unequivocally stated that neither Chief Olusegun Obasanjo nor his cohorts can determine the will of God; nobody can play God in the affairs of men, and in the affairs of our country.

Chief Obasanjo after being a military leader for 3 years, tried shamelessly to mastermind the extension of his constitutional two terms tenure as President to a third one (that is, after being head of government for 11 years, he wanted additional 4 years) until Nigerians cried foul. That he now attempts to stop President Jonathan from contesting for another constitutional term of four years, shows sheer wickedness and mischief. If Chief Obasanjo’s grand-design and deception to hoodwink Nigerians to endorse his phantom third term could not “spill the blood of Nigerians”, the call for the exercise of President Jonathan’s legitimate right to contest for a constitutionally guaranteed second term, if he accepts it, will not spill blood in this country. Or is Chief Obasanjo alluding to a grand plan by some elements in the country to cause mayhem should President Jonathan contest the 2015 elections? We find these comments very disturbing especially in the light of repeated public threats by one Junaid Mohammed. Chief Obsanjo not only knows the position of the law for making very reckless comments but also has experienced first-hand the consequences of such inflammatory comments to incite the populace.

We make bold to say here that President Jonathan has handled the affairs of the PDP and the nation with far greater inclusiveness and tolerance of dissent than Chief Obasanjo ever did. This broad minded and accommodating disposition of President Jonathan is further extended to even the ever-critical and often virulent opposition.

A former senate president, Ameh Ebute, has launched a stinging attack on former President Olusegun Obasanjo for penning a fiercely critical letter accusing President Goodluck Jonathan of corruption, incompetence and clannishness.

Mr. Ebute, who led the senate in 1993, lambasted the former president as lacking the moral standing to criticize Mr. Jonathan, since he had failed on all indices of leadership in his 11 years as Nigeria’s military and civilian leader.

He called Mr. Obasanjo’s letter “ill-conceived” and ”an open assault on the seat of power in Nigeria”.

In an 18-page letter, Mr. Obasanjo had blamed President Jonathan for the crisis engulfing the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and criticized his handling of the Boko Haram insurgency. He also accused Mr. Jonathan of condoning corruption, authorizing the training of snipers ahead of the 2015 elections, and running the nation’s economy aground.

On the PDP crisis, Mr. Ebute said Mr. Obasanjo remains the fold’s most divisive leader, whose penchant for flouting stipulated party rules, continues to haunt the ruling party.

He said while the former president accuses President Jonathan of insincerity about his ambition for a fresh term, and criticises the president for refusing to disclaim calls to stand for re-election in 2015, Mr. Obasanjo did far worse in 2002 while he sought re-election, and in 2007 while making an unconstitutional bid for a third term.

“As Chief Obasanjo bestrode the PDP like an intimidating colossus, electoral decency was jettisoned, internal democracy trampled upon and good conscience buried as he dealt ruthlessly with all perceived enemies regardless of democratic culture and ethos,” he said.

On corruption, Mr. Ebute said the former president ran one of the most sleaze-filled administrations in Nigeria’s history.

He accused Mr. Obasanjo of mismanaging the nation’s oil and gas revenues in his eight-year term as president during which he personally supervised the petroleum ministry, while his “kinsman and protégé”, Funsho Kukpolokun, held sway at the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC.

“Nigeria’s oil and gas revenue was helplessly at the discretion of the duo. Where was accountability and transparency?” he queried.

“While Nigerians accuse the regime of Gen. Ibrahim Babangida of institutionalizing corruption, it is common knowledge that Chief Obasanjo planted the seed of corruption and elevated it to unimaginable heights,” the former lawmaker said.

“When a sitting President influences major business tycoons who do business with government to launch and build a multi-million naira library in his village in his name, what does that amount to? When a sitting President, Chief Obasanjo, suddenly becomes a shareholder in Trans National Corporation of Nigeria Plc, a diversified conglomerate, owners of Transcorp Hilton and several oil and gas assets, what does that amount to?” he questioned.

On Boko Haram, Mr. Ebute said the former president failed miserably in his handling of the Niger Delta insurgency to earn the right to criticize Mr. Jonathan’s effort at containing the Islamist sect.

“It is pathetic that Chief Obasanjo’s sense of history could be so easily demented….Even when the activities of militants brought the economy to knee-jam and oil production plummeted from 2.5 million barrels a day to 700,000 barrels a day, his barking bull strategies brought no solution to the crisis,” Mr. Ebute said.

He said the Obasanjo era was replete with tales of human rights violation, targeted killings and unresolved political assassinations- occurrences that are absent under Mr. Jonathan.

Mr. Ebute said the greatest discredit to Mr. Obasanjo’s hyped credential of a detribalized leader was his suggestion that Nigerians, incensed by Mr. Jonathan’s failures, may regard his presidency as the last president from a minority ethnic stock.

“It is unfortunate that Chief Obasanjo could degenerate to fan the embers of ethnicity in such an insidious and reckless manner,” he said. “But we must remind Chief Obasanjo that Nigeria is not an enterprise of an oligarchy and that the days of hegemonic rule are gone. Chief Obasanjo should extricate himself from the garb of narrow mindedness and pettiness and be broad in his perceptive values. Nigeria belongs to all, majorities and minorities alike.”

Mr. Ebute’s angry reaction came as Nigerians continue to debate Mr. Obasanjo’s letter. President Jonathan has yet to fully respond the several allegations raised by the former president.

Wow! I see that Seun is viewing this thread. Hope it makes the front page.

Nigeria needs APC, Obasanjo says; meets Buhari, Tinubu, others
A former President, Olusegun
Obasanjo, on Saturday said the
ongoing move by the All Progressives
Congress (APC) was in the right
direction to salvage Nigeria.
He also noted that resolving the
challenges facing Nigeria had gone
beyond party politics; and that doing
what is best for the nation should be
paramount.
Mr. Obasanjo stated this during his
first round of meeting with leaders of
the APC at his Hilltop private
residence in Abeokuta, the Ogun State
capital.
The ex-president said there was need
for a viable opposition in a
democracy pointing out that the
formation and existence of the APC
would enhance Nigeria’s democracy.
“You are at home and you are
welcome to be at home. As time goes
on I will just appeal that the politics
that will be played should be politics
without rancour, without bitterness;
politics with decency that has
Nigerians at heart,” Mr. Obasanjo
said.
The two-term democratically elected
president under the platform of the
ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP,
said he is an incurable optimist about
Nigeria; and that he is totally
committed to the country.
He said nothing would separate him
from that commitment.
Mr. Obasanjo described the
opposition leaders’ visit as an honour
he appreciated, saying “the visit is
just in the right direction.”
In his remark, a former Lagos State
Governor, Bola Tinubu, appreciated
the roles Mr. Obasanjo played in
Nigeria’s development, having
passed through tribulations and
surmounted several crises both as a
soldier and a civilian leader.
“We are here because of your
courage. Nobody can dispute the fact
that you have information more than
us,” Mr. Tinubu said. “Nigeria is
divided more than before. To realise a
stable Nigeria, we want to encourage
you to continue to speak the truth.
We have resolved and (are)
determined to rescue Nigeria; we
want you to be our navigator.”
The Interim National Chairman of the
APC, Bisi Akande, in a brief comment,
said the mission of the team was to
introduce the party to Mr. Obasanjo.
He said the party was in support of
the 18-page letter written to
President Goodluck Jonathan,
pointing out that Mr. Obasanjo was
in the best position to do that.
Some of the APC leaders at the
meeting were the party chairman,
Bisi Akande; former military head of
state, Muhammadu Buhari; former
Lagos Governor, Bola Tinubu; and
former presidential candidate of the
defunct Action Congress of Nigeria,
Nuhu Ribadu.
Others are party spokesperson, Lai
Mohammed; as well as Governors
Rochas Okorocha (Imo), Murtala
Nyako (Adamawa), Rabiu
Kwankwaso (Kano), and Abdul-Fatah
Ahmed (Kwara).
Also in the delegation are former PDP
National Chairman, Kawu Baraje; two
senators, Bukola Saraki and Ali Modu
Sheriff; and former aviation minister,
Femi Fani-Kayode.
Meanwhile, shortly after the first
round of meeting, Mr. Obasanjo and
his guests retired into another round
of closed-door meeting; whose
outcome was not made public.
http://premiumtimesng.com/news/151873-nigeria-needs-apc-obasanjo-says-meets-buhari-tinubu-others
.html

Says he will always speak truth to power •Opposition leaders meet

ex-president, laud letter to Jonathan • Buhari offers him APC Card

Politics brought two former Heads of State, Olusegun Obasanjo and Muhammadu Buhari, together on Saturday and the former president restated his commitment to a strong and unified Nigeria, adding that his mission was to rescue Nigeria from the brink of collapse.

Buhari was in company of prominent leaders and governors of the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC), at Obasanjo’s Hilltop residence, Abeokuta, who came apparently to woo him into their fold.

Buhari later offered him a membership card, which Obasanjo rejected.

“You don’t need to offer me your party card, I am card-carrying member of the PDP (shows his card), I will take it from you out of courtesy, but I won’t fill it.

“My party is PDP, my politics is Nigeria, Africa and the world in that order.

“I am a democrat, one of the essential ingredients of democracy is opposition party; democracy that has no opposition is questionable.

“If you see yourself as opposition, you are essentially enhancing the chances of democracy in this country”, said the former President, while responding to Buhari’s offer of APC membership card.

In what appears to be a veiled reference to brickbats about his qualification to speak out, he said: “Let me crave your indulgence to say this; that whoever has enjoyed any political office since 1999, such a person can be claimed to be my political child by virtue of the political position and office I have held

“I can conveniently say I am a political father to all,” the former President said, while he also tasked his visitors to play politics devoid of rancour, bitterness and embrace politics of decency, which has Nigeria at heart.

He described himself as an optimist about the Nigeria project thus: “I am optimist about Nigeria, I am totally committed to Nigeria and nothing will detract me from that”.

In his remarks, former Lagos State governor, Senator Bola Tinubu, described Obasanjo in superlatives words, saying that his politics is one that should be envied by Nigerians.

He said their mission was to rescue the country from mis-governance and commended the former president for writing a letter to President Jonathan to remind him that the country is on the brink of collapse.

Tunubu said for a man who, in a civil war and military dictatorship, to keep the country together, Obasanjo can rightly be described as the father of the country,

Tinubu said although APC is an association of strange bed fellows, it was meant to pull the country from the brink.

He said they have come to tap from his wisdom as former military ruler and president.

His words: “No one is unique as yourself, you have seen the tribulations; you have witnessed the agony of totalitarianism and sectarian crisis.

“Your experience in solitary confinement puts you in good stead to speak and act in the interest of the country”.

The APC leaders and their host later went into close door meeting.

Apart from the party’s Interim National Chairman, Chief Bisi Akande, Buhari and Tinubu, other party leaders on the entourage are, governors of Rivers, Rotimi Amaechi; Imo, Rochas Okorocha; Ogun, Ibikunle Amosun; Oyo, Abiola Ajimobi; Adamawa, Murtala Nyako; Kwara, Abdulfatai Ahmed; Kano, Rabiu Kwankwaso,

Others are Nuhu Ribadu, Former FCT Minister, Nasir El-Rufai; Senator Bukola Saraki; former PDP chairman, Kawu Baraje; and former House of Representatives Speaker, Bello Masari.
http://dailyindependentnig.com/2013/12/im-rescue-mission-obasanjo/

Many thanks to Seun for doing the needful. Kudos!

Tolexander: I was thinking it is a french kiss before opening.

lol.....bad guy....

Princess2be: Page 3 and yet the hottest news in the country is yet to hit front page. I'm new here but I'm beginning to understand Nairaland better.

Such is life! Life Goes On!

These guys ROCK!!!

Governor Adams Oshiomhole of the
southern Nigerian state of Edo
Thursday reprimanded doctors for
joining the ongoing nationwide strike
by doctors in federal employment.
Oshiomhole at a meeting with the
Association of Resident Doctors,
Medical and Dental Consultants
Association in Government House in
Benin, described the warning strike by
the Nigeria Medical Association
(NMA), as provocative, illegal,
avoidable and unnecessary.
“If you have any grievances you are
obliged by law, you are obliged by
tradition, you are actually compelled
by your own oath not to abandon your
patients off as if there is pleasure.
The facts are not in dispute because
doctors under in the employment of
Edo State Government are not staff of
the Federal Government.
“The Federal Government has no
hand in your employment, no hand in
your promotion and they have no
hand in your posting. How we find
money to pay, the Federal
Government has no hand in it. So, I
believe therefore, that even if we are
to talk in the context of employer-
employee relationship, you are
obliged by law to state the particulars
of your grievances to your employer,”
he said.
According to the governor, there was
nothing in the convention or the law
that allows the doctors to simply
walk out of their job, adding that the
fact that their colleagues under
Federal employment had dispute and
they sought meeting with the
Minister of Health, those were
meetings between their colleagues
and the Federal Government, asking
how is Edo State a part of such
meeting.
“I expect that if you feel obliged to go
on that strike, I think you should
inform us that the strike is inevitable.
I do understand the logic and essence
of solidarity, but in this business,
before you resort to solidarity action,
people who are themselves directly
involved in the dispute may choose
on their own to first go on strike.
“If after sometime you feel that no
one is listening and there is need to
reinforce by way of solidarity, subject
to the rule of law, then you can decide
to go on a secondary action. I am not
aware that you can go on strike the
same day as those who are directly
affected,” he said.
The Governor who expressed
disappointment at the manner of
solidarity by the Edo Chapter of the
NMA, asked, “If solidarity was the
basis of your participation, why are
doctors in the private practice not
part of the action?” He therefore
called on them to have a rethink to
save the lives of the people.
“I am unable to resist the conclusion
that the strike like some other ones
are designed to enrich those at the
private practice by shutting down
public hospitals so that those who
are sick have no choice but to go to
private clinics where some of your
members on strike from work go to
their own clinics to work.
“And to think that anyone would do
this, such that those who cannot
afford private health care are now left
to die, is a gross abuse of your skills.
It borders on blackmail on the entire
system and holds all of us to ransom.
‘When a doctor no longer bothers
about the life of a patient, that is the
beginning of the end.”
He therefore warned that “In Edo
State, we will not submit to this
blackmail. You are doing essential
services because of the nature of your
work, you are not expected to go on
strike. Let us realise that beyond
naira and kobo, there is life.
“I simply don’t understand why the
NMA wants to preside over mass
death at the eve of Christmas. Even If
you don’t have other sentiments, on
the mood of the Christmas, you
choose to watch people die. That is
why yesterday, I told the Honourable
Commissioner for Health to put you
on notice that if a doctor choose not
to work I am sure they also know that
they have elected not to be paid.
“Where else in the world do doctors
go on warning strike for five
consecutive days. If the idea is to
warn, do you really need five days of
watching people die for you to make
your point? I worry for Nigeria
because no country can make it this
kind of cycle.”
Responding on behalf of the others,
Dr. Eghe Abe said the Association
would convene to take a
dispassionate consideration of the
governor’s address and do what is in
the interest of the state.
http://pmnewsnigeria.com/2013/12/19/no-work-no-pay-oshiomhole-tells-striking-doctors/

Nice Info but I guess it's not for me

lol.....no be only likes, him for ask for 1 million comments.

Seun: I can't find this on Vanguard website.

Iyabo Obasanjo
“Nobody can say that I told him that I didn’t write it. I am not a liar. I will not back away from what I wrote and there is nothing that is there that is a lie. In the last four years how many of them have spoken to me? They are all mad people,” she said.
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/12/gave-dad-iyabo-obasanjo/
The thread is already on page 3. Do the needful and move it to front page.
https://www.nairaland.com/1561118/breaking-why-gave-up-dad/2

Wonderful!

Check out Iyabo's Confirmation from Vanguard Newspaper on this thread
https://www.nairaland.com/1561118/breaking-why-gave-up-dad

Following the hoopla over her letter, Iyabo spoke severally to Vanguard, yesterday. Asked to respond to claims that she had denied the authorship of the letter written to her father, Iyabo, who holds a doctorate in epidemology and now resident in the United States, said: “No, no, no, that is not true. How can you live by social media? That is part of the problem with Nigeria, people want to be flying rumours. I have not told anybody o! It is early morning here and I just woke up and if I were you I would just ignore them,” Senator Obasanjo said. “People are calling me and telling me that they called Baba but if I say I am not talking to someone (her father), how can you say you called the person and the person will tell you what is on my mind?” she asked
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/12/gave-dad-iyabo-obasanjo/

CONFIRMED
More Details...

Following the hoopla over her letter,Iyabo spoke severally to
Vanguard, yesterday. Asked to
respond to claims that she had
denied the authorship of the letter
written to her father, Iyabo, who holds a doctorate in epidemology and now resident in the United States, said:
“No, no, no, that is not true. How can you live by social media? That is part of the problem with Nigeria, people want to be flying rumours. I have not told anybody o! It is early morning here and I just woke up and if I were you I would just ignore them,”
Senator Obasanjo said.
“People are calling me and telling me that they called Baba but if I say I am not talking to someone (her father), how can you say you called the person and the person will tell you what is on my mind?” she asked

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/12/gave-dad-iyabo-obasanjo/

Acidosis: www.mobile.saharareporters.com/news-page/iyabo-obasanjo-refuses-deny-authorship-letter-her-father




OBJ is finished

More Revelations!

wirinet: I am having a hard time relating the headline to the story. Where is the story on why Iyabo gave up on her dad?

I've Updated the story

John Frankling: Seasons greeting from Nipost

lol...guy u dey funny. wetin be ur own wahala sef?...

gaburiel: I SEE YOU

As the OP, I'm only making updates on the story. Thank You.

*Obasanjo to VANGUARD: “You’re
Bloody Idiots”
*Iyabo Confirms Letter; flays denials on social media
LAGOS — With echoes of the open letter to former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo from his daughter, Iyabo, reverberating nationwide, the daughter yesterday gave reasons she gave up on her father ever changing.

Senator Iyabo Obasanjo spoke against the background of mixed reactions from Yoruba elders and politicians on the import of the letter which she said was the last communication with her father.

The former president himself was furious when approached by Vanguard, yesterday, as he hurled invectives at the newspaper. The
exchange between Vanguard and the former president ran thus:

Vanguard: Sir, we tried reaching you all through yesterday, to no avail, over the letter written by your daughter, Iyabo, to you.

Chief Obasanjo: You are a bloody idiots, you have published the paper and you are now looking for me, you are an idiots, don’t call me again. When Iyabo finishes you in court ... (hangs up).

Senator Obasanjo nevertheless flayed the orchestrated attempt in the social media by a network of associates of her father to separate her from the letter.

Aremo Olusegun Osoba, former governor of Ogun State, who was cited in the letter, confirmed the meeting between him and Iyabo in Massachusetts, United States but distanced himself from the plot allegedly cited by her father to empower her with the ticket of the All
Progressives Congress, APC for the next round of elections.

Besides, Aremo Osoba, several prominent Yoruba elders spoke on the development among whom were Afenifere leader, Chief Rueben Fasoranti, Afenifere bigwig, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, Dr. Frederick Fasehun, Chief Ebenezer Babatope and Hon. Femi Kehinde, a former member of the House of Representatives.

Senator Iyabo Obasanjo had written
an open letter to her father accusing
him of being a liar, manipulator, wife-
basher and hypocrite who was
desperate for a third term despite his
denials to the contrary.

Following the hoopla over her letter, Iyabo spoke severally to Vanguard, yesterday. Asked to respond to claims that she had denied the authorship of the letter written to her father, Iyabo, who holds a doctorate in epidemology and now resident in the United States, said: “No, no, no, that is not true. How can you live by social media? That is part of the problem with Nigeria, people want to be flying rumours. I have not told anybody o! It is early morning here and I just woke up and if I were you I would just ignore them,” Senator Obasanjo said. “People are calling me and telling me that they called Baba but if I say I am not talking to someone (her father), how can you say you called the person and the person will tell you what is on my mind?” she asked
Giving reasons on why she broke off,
she said that after a break from
relating with Obasanjo, she found out
days ago that her father would not
change from the manipulative person
she had known all along.
“The whole of last year I didn’t speak
to him and I just started speaking to
him recently, and the last time he
was trying to manipulate me to say,
this, say that. I can’t be saying no
when you say no.
“The last time I spoke to him was
three days ago and I decided that I
was not going to speak to him again
after that. That was the
communication through which I
realized that this man would never
change from manipulations for
himself.”
Dismissing her unsolicited
canvassers on social media, she
said:
“I was surprised that they would say
that they called Baba, and I said to
myself, are these people mad? How
can you call the person that I said I
am not talking to, to ask him whether
I wrote a letter or not and he is going
to speak for me?
“Nobody can say that I told him that I
didn’t write it. I am not a liar. I will
not back away from what I wrote and
there is nothing that is there that is a
lie. In the last four years how many of
them have spoken to me? They are
all mad people,” she said.
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/12/gave-dad-iyabo-obasanjo/

Missing $ 49.8 billion: Sanusi Makes U-turn
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/12/missing-49-8-billion-sanusi-makes-u-turn/

Abuja- A former Head of State, Gen.
Muhammadu Buhari, said the All
Progressives Congress (APC) was
working on modalities to meet with
former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
He made this known to newsmen in
Abuja on Wednesday after the APC
chieftains met with former Vice
President Atiku Abubakar, to woo him
over to the party`s fold.
“We have the intention of meeting
with former President Olusegun
Obasanjo as soon as he is available
so that we will tell him how we
evolve APC.
“And then, we will ask for his
understanding and cooperation. This
is what we have been doing,’’ Buhari
said.
Atiku, who spoke at the meeting, said
that a strong opposition was
necessary in every democracy to
checkmate the activities of the
government in power.
The former vice president said the
APC was a strong opposition that
would give Nigerians better
alternatives in every election.
“I will consult with my political
associates all over the country and
then make an announcement later,’’
Atiku said.
Earlier, the ACP Interim National
Chairman, Chief Bisi Akande, said
that the party was consulting with
political stakeholders in the country
to salvage the country`s image.
“We had worked with you before and
we know you. The country is being
discredited and we feel we should
meet with men of good will to right
the wrongs,’’ Akande said.
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/12/apc-woos-atiku-plans-meet-obasanjo/

ABUJA — CENTRAL Bank of Nigeria,
CBN Governor, Sanusi Lamido
Sanusi, Wednesday, reversed himself
from his initial declaration that the
sum of $49.8 billion realized from the
sales of crude oil between January
2012 and July 2013 and expected to
be remitted to the federation account
by the Nigerian National Petroleum
Corporation, NNPC, was missing.
Instead, he said $12 billion was the
amount discovered not to have been
remitted to the account within the
period just as he regretted that his
communication to the president was
leaked to the public.
Sanusi, who stated this when he
appeared before the Senate
Committee on Finance, to give insight
into his letter he wrote to the
president on the controversial
missing money, said the letter did not
indicate that the CBN had concluded
its investigation on the matter.
But the Minister of Finance, Mrs
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, countered the
CBN Governor’s position, saying: “I
just wanted to add that we found
about $10.8 billion. He mentioned $
12billion.”
Insisting that the letter was meant for
the president to launch an
investigation into the issue, Sanusi
told the committee’s chairman,
Senator Ahmed Makarfi: “I repeat, Mr
Chairman, that we did not see the
letter as a conclusion of our
investigation but an invitation to
investigate. So, the conclusion that $
49.8billion was missing was wrong
even though we had the allegation
that it was unremitted.”
“Now, since then, a lot has happened.
We have heard the Minister of
Finance, Minister of Petroleum
Resources, Central Bank, FIRS, CPR,
we have set up technical team and
has started a process of
reconciliation and there has been a
lot of progress in that process.
“I found it very unfortunate it was
leaked to the press and the answer is
‘yes’, the CBN Governor did send that
letter with those contents. By way of
those contents, the Central Bank and
Finance Ministry and the government
were very much concerned over the
years at the very low rate of accretion
to the reserves in spite of very high
level of oil prices and in particular,
depletion of excess crude account in
spite of what seems to be very high
level of oil sales.
“Now, in investigation and trying to
understand where those leakages
were, our attention was drawn to a
huge difference between what
appeared to be export of crude made
by NNPC and amount repatriated into
the crude equity account of the federal
government.
“The numbers were about $65 billion
exported by NNPC and about $15
billion repatriated to Federation
Account out of that. Now, in view
with our duty as the banker of the
government, we had the
responsibility of alerting the president
and request a thorough investigation
of this matter, he said.
He further explained that “the major
progress has been the provision of
Monetary Policy Committee, PMC, by
the MPC documents to show that
even though they did ship that
amount in question which is a little
more $67 billion, about $24billion
was actually not their crude but crude
shipped on behalf of third parties like
oil companies, tax in crude and also
for third party financing and so, that
already addresses half of the
amount.”
“So, the second half is the issues
around domestic crude lifting of $
28billion from which we feel there is
a short fall, there is a general
consensus among us on this even
though the amount has been
disputed. For us in Central Bank,
there is a shortfall of $12billion”, he
disclosed.
But even with the amount, he said the
CBN was still in the process of
reconciling the amount.
“Now, we still are in the process of
trying to reconcile that number and
we have not even started talking of
the sales, the export sales tax, which
is about $2billion, which will come
after the sales. The Finance Ministry
has told us that even before now,
there is ongoing negotiation and
discretion with NNPC ad-hoc
committee and these numbers have
always been discussed at the level of
Commissions of Finance.
“Since the objective of this committee
and for all of us on this side is
actually to get to the bottom of it and
find out exactly what is the amount
unremitted and what is to be done
and recommend actions.”
He pleaded for time so that the CBN,
NNPC and all relevant agencies come
up with a collective figure.
“What I would like to do is, given the
progress we have made, to request
that we be given little more time to
continue with this process and come
back with the final position that is a
common position among us if the
committee will so grant us, ”he added
He was subsequently granted the
request.
Speaking at the event earlier, Senate
President, David Mark,noted that the
controversial amount was still
allegation but stressed that it was a
serious one.
“At this point what we have is
allegations but it’s a serious
allegation. When Senator Adetumbi
raised the point of order, I did not
allow comment on the issue
“It’s for us to get facts so that when
we come back we can make useful
and meaningful contributions. The
Senate has no positions on it, nobody
knows apart from what was
published in the papers, that’s why
we want the committee to establish
the facts, the committee, your body
language and utterances must be
seen to be totally neutral because we
have no facts, we have no position on
it, we urge you to observe the facts,
“he said.
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/12/missing-49-8-billion-sanusi-makes-u-turn/

This guy is too funny....lol