PDP Presidential Campaign Organisation has furiously rejected President Obasanjo’s assertion that President Goodluck Jonathan wishes to remain in power at all cost.A statement by Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, director of media and publicity of PDP Campaign specifically rejected the comparism of Jonathan to ousted Ivorien leader ,Laurent Gbagbo .
“It is most uncharitable and unfair for him to suggest that President Jonathan wishes to remain in power by hook or by crook because that is not the nature of Jonathan. It is even worse for him to compare him to President Laurent Gbagbo”Fani-Kayode said
“To Jonathan politics is not a matter of do or die and President Obasanjo knows this more than anyone else. We will respond to President Obasanjo in full at the appropriate time but the truth is that we will not allow him or anyone else to distract us from the task that lies ahead.
“We have an election to fight and to win and that remains our primary focus. We reject President Obasanjo’s very serious and grave allegations and we are not in the least bit disturbed by them because we know that they have no basis in truth, rationality or reason.
In a veiled attack on Obasanjo, the statement said “The days of anyone attempting to rule by proxy or through surrogates are long over because we have all come of age. President Jonathan is ready for this election and the PDP will win it hands down despite all the lies and propaganda that is being peddled by the opposition and their new found friends. That is the bitter truth and those that do not like it should learn to live with it.
Obasanjo told journalists in an interview ,“The observable and what would appear to be happening is that the president has a grand plan, a grand plan to ensure that by hook or by crook, he wins the election or if it all fails, they scuttle it and create chaos, confusion and unpleasantness in the whole country.”
“It is the duty and function and responsibility of the security officers to provide security. The President is the Chief Security of the country and he is the Commander-in-Chief and if security is required anywhere anytime, it is his duty to provide it, failure to provide it, is dereliction of duty, pure and simple.
“Either the President, following his own grand plan, or his aides and associates, are working a script. They are playing a script which must not got his endorsement if not initiated from him.
“It looks to me that the President is trying to playing Gbagbo. Gbagbo was the former President of Cote d’Ivoire and Gbagbo made sure he postponed the election in his country until he was sure he would win and then allowed the election to take place. He got an inconclusive election in the first ballot and I believe this is the sort of thing Nigeria may fall into if I am right in what I observed as the grand plan and then in the run-off, Gbagbo lost with 8 per cent behind Ouattara and then refused to hand over”,Obasanjo said.
According to Fani-Kayode, “It is sad and unfortunate that President Olusegun Obasanjo, a father of the nation and a man that we all revere and have immense respect for, could have misread the situation so badly.
“It is simply not true that President Goodluck Jonathan wishes to remain in power at all costs and the suggestion that he has a hidden agenda or that he somehow imposed his will on INEC by getting them to postpone the elections is baseless and absurd.
“The security chiefs made their recommendations and there were numerous other challenges that INEC had which caused them to postpone the elections for six weeks. This was INEC’s decision and not Jonathan’s.
“The reasons for that postponement were profound and legitimate and we have made it clear all along that whether the election was on the 14th February or any other day President Jonathan is more than ready.
“President Goodluck Jonathan has also made it clear that no matter what happens the handover date of 29th may will stand after the elections have been fought and won. What more does President Obasanjo want to hear?” he asked.
