The presidency said the criticism of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration by former President Olusegun Obasanjo was borne “out of frustration.”
It said that the former president’s attitude towards Mr. Buhari was the height of selfishness and less than “moral evil.”
The presidency disclosed this in a statement by one of its spokespersons, Garba Shehu, on Monday.
The statement was in response to Mr. Obasanjo’s letter to Nigerians on New Year’s Day on the selection of presidential candidates ahead of the February 25 election.
The former president not only endorsed the candidate of the Labor Party (LP), Peter Obi, for the election, he also declared the last seven and a half years of the Buhari administration it has been stressful for many Nigerians.
He said during that period, Nigeria went “from the frying pan to the fire.”
“The last seven and a half years have certainly been important and stressful years for many Nigerians. We have gone from the frying pan to the fire and from the mountain top to the valley. Our leaders have done their best but the best has not been the one best for Nigeria and Nigerians at home and abroad. For most Nigerians, it is hell on earth,” Mr. Obasanjo said.
In his response, titled “Insolent Obasanjo attacks leaders out of frustration,” Mr. Shehu said Mr. Obasanjo used the word “hell” for the administration of the president who came after him who refused to be a puppet.
“……….to say that “a pan to burn” is the situation in Nigeria at this time should be read as a personal experience for him and we know what it means. “Hell” for Obasanjo is when the President, what President whatever comes after he refuses to be his own puppet, doing what he wants in all things and at all times.
“He kept attacking out of frustration.
“Obasanjo’s grudge against President Buhari is the height of selfishness and indecency,” Mr. Shehu wrote.
Read the full statement by Mr. Shehu below.
MORAL SQUALID OBASANJO ATTACKS THE LEADER OUT OF FRUSTRATION
Thanks for looking at our reaction.
Former President Obasanjo is so famous that no one needs to explain who he is.
However, four things we will say:
One of them is that he will not stop attacking President Muhammadu Buhari because the former President will not stop being jealous of anyone who beats him to a new record in the process of nation building.
President Buhari is ahead of Chief Obasanjo in all areas of national development and doing so is a cardinal sin for Obasanjo who hallucinates that he is the best to lead Nigeria and there will be no one better than him.
President Buhari just completed the world class building the Second Niger Bridge after thirty years of failed promises. Now waiting for commissioning.
Obasanjo laid the sod for the bridge in his first term as President and the work never started.
When he sought re-election for a second term, he returned to the site to turn sod for a second bridge. When the Obi of Onitsha, frankly and scientifically, recalled that he had done this in the past, Obasanjo told the most important traditional rulers of the South East that he was lying, in the presence of the Chiefs and the Oracle in the palace.
Obasanjo lied to the Southeast to get votes. President Buhari did not get the vote but built the bridge because he believed it was the right thing to do.
Two, President Buhari has been bagging awards and encomiums to try to do what the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria says leaders should do: serve one, or a maximum of two terms and move.
President Buhari has declared and stated that he will oversee the election better than the one who brought him to office and leave when his time comes.
After trying to extend his tenure and failing, Obasanjo’s fictitious mind had to tell him that he was the one under attack.
But he is not on the radar of President Buhari because experience has shown, especially recently in West Africa where at least three successful coups and many other failed attempts, that a third term or prolongation of office is a recipe for political instability.
Furthermore, the totality of African leaders appointed President Buhari as the continent’s Anti-Corruption Champion.
You can’t be an anti-corruption champion if “you interfere and bend the rules,” bringing the rotten responsibility of what happened to national assets in the name of privatization as documented by the Nigerian Senate in 2011.
As an insight, the Aluminum Smelter Company of Nigeria, ALSCON, which was established for $3.2 billion, was sold to a Russian company, Russal, for $130 million. Delta Steel, founded in 2005, at a cost of $1.5 billion, was sold to Global Infrastructure for only $30 million.
ALSCON got $120 million for the dredging of the Imo River, which was never done.
Three, related to the above is the growing profile of President Buhari as a Champion of Democracy not only at home and in the West African sub-region but on the African continent as a whole.
As President, Obasanjo undermined internal democracy by orchestrating impeachment after impeachment of governors who did not comply with the high imperial administration.
As I have said in the past, Mr. Obasanjo’s tenure, 1999-2007, represented the dark days of Nigerian democracy because of the many attacks on the constitution.
The former president deployed the federal machinery to remove governors Joshua Dariye, Rashidi Ladoja, Peter Obi, Chris Ngige and Ayo Fayose from office. They then the governors of Plateau, Oyo, Anambra, Anambra and Ekiti, respectively, were unjustly removed using the police and the secret service under control.
In him, the legislature of five people met at 6:00 and “impeached” Governor Dariye in Plateau; 18 members out of 32 were removed from office by Governor Ladoja of Oyo; in Anambra, APGA Governor Obi was impeached at 5:00 am by members who did not meet the two-thirds required by the constitution.
Under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the legislative power of the Rivers State legislature was transferred to the federal parliament to punish Governor Amaechi for changing political alliances.
Moreover, Obasanjo condemned the Supreme Court and unlawfully withheld Lagos State revenues from federal sources because of his concern for Governor Bola Tinubu.
On the other hand, in Washington a few weeks ago, US President Joe Biden in a meeting with African Heads of State and Government described President Buhari as a champion of democracy and a role model for the leaders of African countries.
Clearly, Obasanjo became more jealous by practicing a vengeful attitude.
Fourth, to say that the “frying pan for the fire” situation in Nigeria at this time must be read as a personal experience for people and we know what it means.
“Hell” for Obasanjo is when the President, any President who will come after he refuses to be his own puppet, does what he wants in all things and at all times.
He then continued to attack out of frustration.
Obasanjo’s grudge against President Buhari is the height of selfishness and indecency.
Garba Shehu
Senior Special Assistant to the President
(Media & Publicity)
January 2, 2023
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