Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has
again torn at President Goodluck Jonathan,
saying Nigerian democracy remained at risk
due to the action of the present
administration.
Speaking at a book Launch in honour of the
pioneer chairman of the Independent Corrupt
Practices Commission, ICPC, Mustapha Akanbi,
in Abuja, Mr. Obasanjo, who is the Chairman
of the occasion, said the president should stop
encouraging ‘verbal violence which may not
physically hurt but has ways of degenerating
into physical violence’.
Mr. Obasanjo said the greatest indictment
against any administration is to be seen trying
to destroy opposition of all sorts which
invariably mean destroying democracy.
“Management of democracy without resorting
to brute force and dictatorial tendencies must
be cultivated,” the former President said.
“As a leader, you must not deliberately do evil
or condone evil. You should know that you
will one day give account to God, you may
cover up here, but before God, there is no
cover up.”
The former president also spoke at lenght on
the President’s handling of the Boko Haram
insurgency, corruption, the economy and
youth unemployment.
On insecurity, Mr. Obasanjo said Boko Haram
is not out to “frustrate anyone’s political
efforts” and lamented that it took Mr.
Jonathan the years to fully understand the
menace.
On corruption, Mr. Obasanjo said, “when the
head is rotten, the whole body is useless”
On the economy, he said Nigeria would
continue to sink deeper and that what
Nigerians are told about the state of the
economy “is not truly what the economy is”.
“The economy is in doldrums, if not in
reverse,” he said.
Mr. Obasanjo’s latest attack on the President is
coming seven days after he rated Mr.
Jonathan’s performance as below average.
The former president had spoken last
weekend in Abeokuta while addressing book
writers as part of activities marking the Ake
Arts and Book Festival.
“I rate this current administration below
average,” Mr. Obasanjo said in response to a
question about Mr. Jonathan’s performance.
The former president also said he deserved
credit for helping an individual from a
minority tribe become Nigeria’s President.
“Rather than take blame for bringing Jonathan
to power, I should be taking credit,” he
added.
The Nigerian presidency responded Sunday,
slamming Mr. Obasanjo and describing his
rating as untrue and misleading.
In a statement in Abuja, the Senior Special
Assistant to the President on Public Affairs,
Doyin Okupe, said Mr. Obasanjo’s rating was
at variance “with the facts on the ground”.
Mr. Okupe said President Jonathan had
performed so well that “in terms of
performance and achievements, no
administration since 1960 when Nigeria
gained independence from Britain, has done
as much as that of President Jonathan”.
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