In spite of the breakfast meeting
between President Goodluck Jonathan and former President Olusegun
Obasanjo in Nairobi, Kenya on Thursday, the President is likely to issue
a written response to the former president’s allegations next week, Saturday PUNCH has learnt.
Presidential aides saddled with the
responsibility of compiling a response to the letter met again for hours
inside the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Friday. They held a similar
meeting on Thursday.
Those who met included the Special
Adviser to the President on Political Matters, Mr. Ahmed Gulak; Senior
Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe;
Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Publicity,
Mr. Umar Sani.
A source said, “The aides will present
their work to the President over the weekend. By the time he goes
throughout it and make corrections, the response may be ready any time
next week.”
Saturday PUNCH learnt that the
aides were almost through with the report and would present their report
to the President anytime from now while the President is expected to
take a final decision on the matter next week.
When contacted, Special Adviser to the
President on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, said the statement
issued by the Presidency on the matter still sufficed.
Abati who had earlier responded to
Obasanjo’s letter, had said that the President would issue a written
statement in response to the former President’s letter.
In the letter, Obasanjo had accused the
President of pursuing “selfish personal and political interests based on
advice from his “self-centred aides.”
Though both Obasanjo and Jonathan met in Nairobi on Thursday, Saturday PUNCH
learnt that the controversial 18-page letter written by the former
president to Jonathan was not discussed at the breakfast session.
The two leaders who were in Nairobi to
participate in Kenya’s 50th Independence Anniversary had met over
breakfast at the Intercontinental Hotel, Nairobi, where Jonathan was
lodged on a day Nigerian media were awash with the letter titled,
“Before it is too late” in which the former President accused Jonathan
of condoning corruption and engaging in acts that were capable of
destroying the country.
Before the event which was held inside
the Safaricom Stadium, Obasanjo had made a surprise appearance at
Jonathan’s hotel and had breakfast with the President.
But contrary to the belief of many that
the issues raised in the letter would have been discussed and settled at
the breakfast session, Saturday PUNCH learnt that none of the two leaders made any reference to the letter during their brief encounter.
A source who did not want to be named
said the encounter could not in any way be described as a meeting
because no fewer that eight presidential aides sat with them throughout.
He said, “The issue of the letter was
not discussed at all. That encounter cannot be said to be a meeting. No
fewer than eight presidential aides were with them throughout the brief
session.
“You will agree with me that if it was a
proper meeting, the two leaders would have been excused. No aide would
have been allowed.
“Nothing was discussed apart from the
former President’s humorous way of saying he came to pay homage to the
President and the way he sought the President’s permission to go ahead
of him to the venue of Kenya’s Independence Day anniversary.”
In the letter, Obasanjo had accused the
President of pursuing “selfish personal and political interests based on
advice 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 haemorrhage
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 watch
list, 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. 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 re-election.’’
However, Nigerians who spoke with Saturday PUNCH
insisted that the President owed the nation an explanation over
allegations of financing a killer’s squad with the nation’s resources
for personal reasons and placing 1,000 people on his political watch
list among others.
A lawyer and human rights activist,
Wahab Shittu, said Jonathan should respond to each of the allegations by
the former president.
He said, “Each of the issues raised in
the letter is quite
weighty. Mr. President should attempt to set the records straight; those
that are factual should be admitted and addressed in the interest of
Nigeria.
“However, those that the presidency
considers to amount to falsehood, attempts should be made by the former
president to substantiate. Those pertaining to killer squad are serious
ones and border on alleged criminality which ought to be investigated
and substantiated.
“The letter, coming from the former
president in the stature of Obasanjo is one that cannot be treated
lightly and issues raised should be examined on merits. The matter
should not be reduced to sentiments, mudslinging or abuse. The reaction
of the presidency to the letter should be guided by the national
interest, leaving personality to the backline.”
Shittu added that the situation could
have a few implications on the polity, speculating that it could force
Jonathan into making a declaration as regards his political ambition.
He said, “I want to speculate that in
the coming weeks, we are likely to see a self declaration to aspire by
the incumbent president (Jonathan). I want to see the reaction of the
president to each of the issues raised in the coming days because the
matter is not just in the local domain but in the international domain.
It’s likely to raise the level of public discourse to the highest pitch
in the next few weeks and the reaction the letter will generate cannot
be over-emphasized.
“It’s generally going to generate a
chain of reactions and alter the political calculations in the country
in the coming weeks ahead of 2015 elections. The letter may also have
revealed the extent of divisions and mistrust in the ruling party.”
Also, Muyiwa Ige, son of slain Minister
of Justice, Chief Bola Ige, in a telephone interview with one of our
correspondents, on Thursday, described the implosion within the ruling
party as a good omen to Nigeria.
Muyiwa, who is Osun State Commissioner
for Lands and Physical Planning, said many murders had remained
unresolved in subsequent PDP-led governments at the centre.
Recalling that murders were unresolved
during the Obasanjo era between 1999 and 2007, Muyiwa insisted that the
leadership crisis rocking the PDP “is good for Nigeria.”
He said, “Prof Wole Soyinka, you will
recall, described the PDP as a nest of killers. Nigerians can see the
whole episode being played out. In 2015, a better party, the All
Progressives Congress, will come on board.
“Unresolved murders have been part of
the PDP since 1999. What Nigerians want is improvement of the deplorable
infrastructures; Nigerians deserve a clean and total break from
corruption, decadence in the education sector.”
“Nigerians cannot be distracted by the
PDP shenanigans, who will soon be in the minority in 2015. University
students have been idle at home for more than five months ago.
“The missing N49.8bn from the coffers of
the nation is another serious issue. We should concentrate on issues
that will move this country forward rather than the gale of bad news
being presented to us daily by these people. Nigerians must be awake.
In his reaction, another lawyer, Jiti
Ogunye, also described the issues raised in the open letter to President
Jonathan as ‘very weighty and grave”, saying the issues should be
addressed by the president.
“Regardless of the many valid grievances
Nigerians may have against Obasanjo, including being one of the
architects of the bastardisation of Nigeria’s federalism- a development
which has created a powerful despotic and thieving presidency, these
issues must be addressed.
In addressing the issues, Ogunye asked
Nigerians to “refrain from sharing Obasanjo’s pains about the possible
disintegration of the Peoples Democratic Party”, but critically analyse
allegations bordering on presidency’s support for alleged criminality.
He added, “The health of the PDP is not
the headache of most Nigerians. However, the critical state of health of
Nigeria is our collective concern. Corruption, abuse of power,
nepotism, impunity, political manipulation and exploitation of religion
and ethnicity , insecurity, terrorism, structural imbalance, fiscal
inequity, arbitrariness in government, rights of abuses and subversion
of the rule of law may not only destroy civil rule, but also Nigeria.
“So Nigerians need to rise above the
intra PDP and ruling class battle, which the letter demonstrates, to
discuss these issues. We need to know, for example, whether there is a
killer squad and whether Al Mustapha’s Court of Appeal release was
facilitated and celebrated by the Presidency to enable him to offer
consultancy and expert services on the recruitment, training, operation
and deployment of the killer gang, towards 2015.”
However, the founder of Oodua Peoples’ Congress, Dr. Frederick Fasehun, debunked Obasanjo’s allegations.
He said, “It’ was “libelous” for Obasanjo to accuse Jonathan of providing assistance to a “murderer” in his letter
Also, the Niger Delta Peoples’
Volunteer Force advised the former president against dividing the
nation, saying the unity of the country should be paramount to him as “a
father of the nation.”
The National Coordinator, North
Central/South-East of the group, Emmanuel Amakiri, stated that Nigeria
is a multilingual and multicultural nation and every competent person
has the right to aspire to the leadership of the country.
Amakiri noted that no section of the
country had the monopoly of the Presidency, adding that Obasanjo should
not allow himself to be used by those clamouring for the political
leadership of the nation.
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