Skip to main content

Presidency Berates Obasanjo For Attacks On Jonathan

February 15, 2015

Signed by presidential spokesman Reuben Abati, the statement said Mr. Obasanjo was bent on maliciously impugning “the integrity of a sitting President of his country for the primary purpose of self-promotion.”

Image

The Presidency today berated former President Olusegun Obasanjo for his constant criticism of President Goodluck Jonathan. In a statement signed titled “Obasanjo’s Unwarranted Attack on President Jonathan Is Odious, Repugnant and Self-Serving,” the Presidency accused the former president of making “false claims and allegations” against President Goodluck Jonathan in Abeokuta last Saturday. 

Signed by presidential spokesman Reuben Abati, the statement said Mr. Obasanjo was bent on maliciously impugning “the integrity of a sitting President of his country for the primary purpose of self-promotion.”

“It is obvious from Chief Obasanjo’s serial vituperations against President Jonathan who is doing his best to positively transform Nigeria for the benefit of all of its people that he has willfully chosen to close his eyes to the present administration’s good works and intentions,” Mr. Abati said. He accused the former president of seeking to defeat Mr. Jonathan “by fair or foul means.”

The strongly-worded statement said it was “completely senseless, irrational and out of place for Chief Obasanjo, who still claims to belong to the same party as the President, to accuse President Jonathan of plotting to win the rescheduled presidential elections by ‘hook or crook’ and planning to plunge the nation into crisis if he loses the election.”

Mr. Abati said the incumbent president had given “the greatest possible support to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and other relevant federal agencies to ensure that the rescheduled elections are successfully conducted.

“Indeed, it is not President Jonathan who remains faithful to his oath of office who is trying to plunge Nigeria into crisis, but Chief Obasanjo who is scheming to plunge the country into chaos in pursuit of a selfish and highly egocentric agenda.”

The Presidency added: “Chief Obasanjo’s plot with others within and outside the country to thwart the general elections and foist an unconstitutional Interim National Government, which he hopes to head on the nation is well known to us, but by the Grace of God Almighty, his odious plan to return to power through the back door will fail woefully.

We know very well that it is in pursuit of this nefarious plot that the former President continues to sow the seeds of discord and crises in the polity by purporting to remain in the ruling party while openly consorting with the opposition, endorsing its candidates and predicting victory for opposition candidates in a manner most unbecoming of a supposed elder statesman.”

Mr. Abati added that most Nigerians would not be fooled by Mr. Obasanjo’s antics. He urged Nigerians “to be assured that President Jonathan's commitment to democracy in all its ramifications remains constant and that he will never be party to the use of any unlawful means to remain in office or gain political advantage over his opponents.”

The statement promised that the forthcoming elections would be “free, fair and credible, and that all certified election results will be respected.” It added that the rescheduling of the general elections “was in the best interest of the nation and was never driven by any ulterior motive on the part of government as Chief Obasanjo and others have alleged.”

The statement restated President Jonathan’s confidence that Nigerians would re-elect him based on “his sincere efforts to move the country forward over the past four years” in order to enable the serving president “to pursue his agenda for national transformation to a successful conclusion.”