By Ismaila Chafe
The Presidency says former President Olusegun Obasanjo will not stop attacking President Muhammadu Buhari because he is jealous of Buhari’s achievements.
Malam Garba Shehu, the president’s spokesman gave four reasons for the unjustifiable attacks on Buhari by Obasanjo, saying ”the ex-president won’t stop being jealous of anyone who beats him to a new record in the nation’s development process.”
According to the presidential aide, Buhari is ahead of the former president in all fields of national development.
‘Shehu said: ‘To do that is a cardinal sin to Obasanjo whose hallucinations tell him that he is the best ever to lead Nigeria and there will never be another one better than him.”
He said that Buhari’s administration had successfully completed the world-class edifice, the second Niger Bridge after three decades of failed promises, saying the project would soon be inaugurated by the president.
”’Obasanjo laid the foundation for the bridge in his first term as elected President and work never started.
”When he sought re-election for his second term in office, he returned to the site to turn the sod for the bridge the second time.
”When the Obi of Onitsha, a forthright ago scholarly, reminded him that he had done this in the past, Obasanjo told the foremost Southeast traditional ruler that he was a liar in the full presence of the Chiefs and Oracles in his Palace.
”Obasanjo lied to the Southeast to get their votes.
”President Buhari didn’t get their votes but built the bridge because he believed it is the right thing to do,” Shehu stated.
The presidential aide also maintained that the former president was not comfortable with Buhari’s bagging awards and encomiums for strictly promoting democratic culture and the rule of law in Nigeria and beyond.
He said: ”Two, President Buhari had been bagging awards and encomiums for trying to do that which the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria says a leader should do: Serve one, or a maximum of two terms and go.
”President Buhari has been stating and restating that he will supervise a better election than the one that brought him to office and to leave as and when due.
“Having tried tenure elongation and failed,Obasanjo’s fictitious mind must be telling him that he is the one under attack.
”But, he is not on President Buhari’s radar because experience has shown, especially lately in West Africa where there have been at least three successful coups and many other failed attempts, that third term or tenure elongation is a recipe for political instability.”
Shehu further reminded the former president that the totality of African leaders appointed Buhari the Anti-Corruption Champion of the continent.
He said: ”You can’t be an anti-corruption champion if “you meddled and bent the rules,” carrying the putrid responsibility of what happened to national assets in the name of privatisation as documented by the Nigerian Senate in 2011.
”As an insight, the Aluminum Smelter Company of Nigeria, ALSCON, which was set up with $3.2 billion, was sold to a Russian firm, Russal, for a paltry $130million. Delta Steel, which was set up in 2005, at a cost of $1.5billion, was sold to Global Infrastructure for just $30million.
”ALSCON got back $120million for the dredging of the Imo River, which was never carried out.”
According to Shehu, the third reason for the Obasanjo attacks on Buhari is the growing profile of the president as the Champion of Democracy not only at home and in the West African subregion but the African continent as whole.
He said: ”As President, Obasanjo destabilised internal democracy by orchestrating impeachment after impeachment of Governors who were not compliant with his highly imperial administration.
”As we said sometime back, Mr Obasanjo’s tenure, 1999-2007, represented the dark days of Nigeria’s democracy due to a slew of assaults on the constitution.
”The former president deployed federal machinery to remove Governors Joshua Dariye, Rashidi Ladoja, Peter Obi, Chris Ngige and Ayo Fayose from office.
“They were the then governors of Plateau, Oyo, Anambra, Anambra and Ekiti, respectively, unjustly removed using the police and secret service under his control.
”Under him, a five-man legislature met at 6:00 am and “impeached” Gov. Dariye in Plateau; 18 members out of 32 removed Gov. Ladoja of Oyo from office;
‘Shehu also recalled that in Anambra, APGA’s Gov. Obi was equally impeached at 5:00 a.m. by members who did not meet the two-thirds required by the constitution.
He said lawmaking powers of the Rivers legislature were transferred to the federal parliament to punish Gov. Amaechi for shifting his political alliance.
Shehu said the former president ”damned the Supreme Court and unlawfully held back Lagos State revenues due from federal sources on account of his pettiness against Gov. Bola Tinubu.
He added: ”On the other hand, in Washington a few weeks ago, the US President, Joe Biden, at a meeting with African Heads of States and Government, described Buhari as a champion of democracy and role model for the leaders of African states.
”Clearly, Obasanjo has become even more jealous by adopting a vengeful attitude.
”Four, to say that “frying pan to fire” is the situation in Nigeria at this time should be read to mean a personal experience to him and we know what that means.
“Hell” for Obasanjo is when a President, any President that comes after him refuses to be his own puppet, to do as he wishes on all matters and at all times.
He then keeps attacking out of frustration.
”Obasanjo’s vengeful attitude towards President Buhari is the height of selfishness and little short of moral squalor.” (NAN)
