In the President’s response to Mr. Obasanjo’s letter titled “Before It is too late” released by his media aide, Reuben Abati, on Sunday, Mr. Jonathan said the letter “may deliberately or inadvertently set the stage for subversion.”
On December 11, PREMIUM TIMES exclusively published Mr. Obasanjo’s strong-worded 18-page letter to the President. In the letter, which subsequently dominated political discourse in the country, the former president accused Mr. Jonathan of incompetence, encouraging corruption, being dishonourable and leading the country to destruction.
Mr. Jonathan, in a tone that unsuccessfully tried to be polite, said Mr. Obasanjo’s letter was calculated to further embarrass him at a period he was accused of encouraging corruption by the Speaker of the House of representative, Taminu Tambuwa and the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Lamido Sanusi.
“The timing of your letter coincided with other vicious releases. The Speaker of the House of Representatives spoke of my “body language” encouraging corruption. A letter written to me by the CBN Governor alleging that NNPC, within a period of 19 months did not remit the sum of USD49.8 billion to the federation account, was also deliberately leaked to the public,” he wrote.
He says Mr Obasanjo’s letter was an attempt to instigate people from other regions against him and cause disaffection within the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
“It appears that your letter was designed to incite Nigerians from other geopolitical zones against me and also calculated to promote ethnic disharmony. Worse still, your letter was designed to instigate members of our Party, the PDP, against me.”
He says “landmines have been laid” for him thus the need for him to respond to the issues raised in Mr. Obasanjo’s letter “before the mines explode.”
Mr. Jonathan recalled that Mr. Obasanjo had “written similar letters and made public comments in reference to all former Presidents and Heads of Government starting from Alhaji Shehu Shagari and these have instigated different actions and reactions.”
“The purpose and direction of your letter is distinctly ominous, and before it is too late, my clarifications on the issues need to be placed on record,” he said.
The president thinly disguised his contempt for Mr. Obasanjo by calling him “baba” which literally means father in Yoruba but is also used as a honorific for a fatherly figure.
However, the term appears to have been used as a sort of tongue-in-cheek mockery of Mr. Obasanjo as at almost every instance the word is used it is followed by a stinging admonition of the former president.
On Security
Responding to the concern raised by Mr. Obasanjo in his letter about insecurity in the country especially the challenges posed by the Boko Haram insurgency and the oil theft in the Niger Delta, Mr. Jonathan said the problem were not direct consequence of the policy of his administration but a result of the failure of previous governments.
While the problems still persist, he said his administration deserved credit for its efforts at reducing the threat of insurgency instead of condemnation.
“My administration is working assiduously to overcome current national security challenges, the seeds of which were sown under previous administrations. There have been some setbacks; but certainly there have also been great successes in our efforts to overcome terrorism and insurgency,” he said.
“Those who continue to down-play our successes in this regard, amongst whom you must now be numbered, appear to have conveniently forgotten the depths to which security in our country had plunged before now.
“At a stage, almost the entire North-East of Nigeria was under siege by insurgents. Bombings of churches and public buildings in the North and the federal capital became an almost weekly occurrence. Our entire national security apparatus seemed nonplussed and unable to come to grips with the new threat posed by the berthing of terrorism on our shores.
“But my administration has since brought that very unacceptable situation under significant control. We have overhauled our entire national security architecture, improved intelligence gathering, training, funding, logistical support to our armed forces and security agencies, and security collaboration with friendly countries with very visible and positive results.
“The scope and impact of terrorist operations have been significantly reduced and efforts are underway to restore full normalcy to the most affected North Eastern region and initiate a post-crisis development agenda, including a special intervention programme to boost the region’s socio-economic progress.
“In doing all this, we have kept our doors open for dialogue with the insurgents and their supporters through efforts such as the work of the Presidential Committee on Dialogue and the Peaceful Resolution of the Security Challenges in the North-East.”
He said his administration had tried a multi-faceted approach at curbing the insurgency such as the education of almajaris, poverty alleviation and social reforms.
He said Mr. Obasanjo stands unqualified to accuse him of failing to handle security challenges properly since he made a mess of similar situation during his time as president. He made reference to the 1999 Odi Massacre in Bayelsa saying the Obasanjo administration’s approach to solving the problem exacerbated rather than solve the problem.
“More uncharitable persons may even see a touch of sanctimoniousness in your new belief in the carrot and stick approach to overcoming militancy and insurgency,” Mr. Jonathan said. “You have always referred to how you hit Odi in Bayelsa State to curb militancy in the Niger Delta. If the invasion of Odi by the Army was the stick, I did not see the corresponding carrot. I was the Deputy Governor of Bayelsa State then, and as I have always told you, the invasion of Odi did not solve any militancy problem but, to some extent, escalated it. If it had solved it, late President Yar’Adua would not have had to come up with the amnesty program. And while some elements of the problem may still be there, in general, the situation is reasonably better.”
Over 2000 people were allegedly killed in Odi and the town completely destroyed on November 20, 1999 by soldiers in search of militants that allegedly killed 12 policemen in the community.
The president also blamed the former president for doing nothing to arrest assassins who tried to kill him when he was governor of Bayelsa State.
On snipers and political watch list
Mr. Jonathan described the accusation in Mr Obasanjo’s letter that he had placed over 1000 Nigerians on a political watch list and that he was training snipers to take out his political enemies as the “most invidious accusation” in the former president’s letter and a “grave injustice” to him.
“The allegation of training snipers to assassinate political opponents is particularly incomprehensible to me. Since I started my political career as a Deputy Governor, I have never been associated with any form of political violence. I have been a President for over three years now, with a lot of challenges and opposition mainly from the high and mighty. There have certainly been cases of political assassination since the advent of our Fourth Republic, but as you well know, none of them occurred under my leadership.
“Regarding the over one thousand people you say are on a political watch list, I urge you to kindly tell Nigerians who they are and what agencies of government are “watching” them. Your allegation that I am using security operatives to harass people is also baseless. Nigerians are waiting for your evidence of proof. That was an accusation made against previous administrations, including yours, but it is certainly not my style and will never be. Again, if you insist on the spurious claim that some of your relatives and friends are being harassed, I urge you to name them and tell Nigerians what agencies of my administration are harassing them.”
On Corruption
While acknowledging that “corruption is an issue”, Mr Jonathan says his administration cannot be blamed for institutionalising corruption in the country saying it started a long time ago. He added that his administration was doing everything to tackle corruption within his government.
He however said due process is being followed to get to the bottom of allegations of corruption against officials.
“The seed of corruption in this country was planted a long time ago, but we are doing all that we can to drastically reduce its debilitating effects on national development and progress. I have been strengthening the institutions established to fight corruption. I will not shield any government official or private individual involved in corruption, but I must follow due process in all that I do. And whenever clear cases of corruption or fraud have been established, my administration has always taken prompt action in keeping with the dictates of extant laws and procedures. You cannot claim to be unaware of the fact that several highly placed persons in our country, including sons of some of our party leaders are currently facing trial for their involvement in the celebrated subsidy scam affair. I can hardly be blamed if the wheels of justice still grind very slowly in our country, but we are doing our best to support and encourage the judiciary to quicken the pace of adjudication in cases of corruption.”
He admonished the former president for giving credence to what he termed “spurious allegation” of corruption against him by the CBN governor in his letter.
Mr. Sanusi had alleged in a letter to the president, also exclusively obtained by this newspaper, that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation had failed to remit N8 trillion naira in crude oil sale. He however later claimed that the money unremitted was N1.9 trillion while answering question from senators.
In what is perhaps the most personal attack on Mr. Obasanjo, Mr. Jonathan challenged him to tell Nigerians “the true story of questionable waivers of signature bonuses between 2000 and 2007” when he was president.
Billions of naira that would have been earned by government from allocation of oil blocks to individuals and companies was allegedly waived between 2000 and 2007 by the Obasanjo administration.
On the Crisis in the PDP
The president exonerated himself of any blame in the crisis ravaging the PDP.
The president however confirmed what many political watchers are saying about the crisis in the party – the problem is primarily a result of power dynamics within the party instead of opposition to the president’s style of leadership.
He suggested that the former president is responsible for instigating some governors against him and eventually clearing the way for them to defect to the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC).
“At the heart of all the current troubles in our party and the larger polity is the unbridled jostling and positioning for personal or group advantage ahead of the 2015 general elections. The “bitterness, anger, mistrust, fear and deep suspicion” you wrote about all flow from this singular factor.
It is indeed very unfortunate that the seeming crisis in the party was instigated by a few senior members of the party, including you.”
He however, declined to comment on whether he would run for re-election in 2015 saying he “will only speak on whether or not I will seek a second term when it is time for such declarations.”
He describes the allegation in Mr Obasanjo’s letter that he supported opposition parties in Edo, Lagos, Ondo and Anambra at the expense of the PDP as “misdirected and hugely hypocritical” saying unlike Mr. Obasanjo he is committed to creating a level playing field for all political parties during elections.
On the Economy
Rating the economic achievements way better than those recorded during the Obasanjo administration, Mr Jonathan said his government is committed to making the country the destination of choice for investors.
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