This is real WAR between President Jonathan and OBJ..See

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo came hard again on President Jonathan and his style of governance, claiming that President Jonathan is afraid that if Gen Buhari wins the election, he might jail him when he leaves office. Obasanjo said this while speaking to newsmen at his home in Abeokuta shortly after his return from his trip to Kenya and UK.

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Obasanjo said President Jonathan was doing everything possible to win the elections, either by hook or by crook. He said president Jonathan is playing the cards of former Cote d’Ivoire President, Laurent Gbagbo who continued shifting elections in his country in a bid to ensure that he won the election, a situation that plunged Cote d'Ivoire into political crisis. He said President Jonathan was reigning and not ruling after he said in his last media chat he was not aware of the military's advise that the election be postponed. He said INEC deciding to postpone the election was a forced decision. Read all that after the cut...


"While I was away, I refused to make any categorical statement on this issue because I wanted to come back home and learn at firsthand what actually transpired and what was going on, and it turned out to be a forced decision on the INEC because it was alleged that the Security Chiefs were unable to provide security, and as a result the Chairman of INEC had to postpone, in accordance with the dictates of the so called Security Chiefs. I thought, for me, that was bad precedent for democracy in Nigeria. It meant it doesn't matter what preparation or lack of preparation any electoral body could make in Nigeria. The final decision whether election will take place on the day scheduled for it lies in the domain of security. It is a sad day for democracy in Nigeria. I will say this: we must all feel concerned before democracy is killed. 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, he scuttles it and creates 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 Officer 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. Whether the President is following his own grand plan or his aides and associates are working a script, they are playing a script which must have got his endorsement, if not initiated by him. What again, it looks to me that the President is trying to play Gbagbo (Laurent). Gbagbo is 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% behind Quattara and then refused to hand over. All reasonable persuasion and pleading was rebuffed by him and he unleashed horror in that country until nemesis caught up with him. I believe that we may be seeing a repeat of Gbagbo or what I called the Gbagbo saga here in Nigeria, I hope not.” he said

Obasanjo said the reasons given by military chiefs who called for election postponement is not tenable and that if they have failed, they should as well leave office and go home

“When they have failed, they can as well go home. Their job is to maintain law and order and provide security at any time and at any place. They said they cannot do it, they have failed. I want to believe that this was forced on them, I want to believe that but whether it was forced on them or it was their initiative, it was bad, very bad. I hope we will never have a repeat performance of this in this country again. The unfortunate thing is this: they are over exposing themselves or they are being over exposed by whoever brought about that way of doing things, and for me, a momentous decision like that cannot be taken and implemented by the security chiefs. It was even made worse when the President in the media chat on the 11th of this month claimed not to have knowledge or not to have authorized it. I get worried, very worried, that if the President of Nigeria is not in-charge of security, maintenance of law and order and such a decision can be taken behind him, assuming that is true, then the President must be reigning but not ruling. And who then are the shadow figures that are ruling us? It means that one day we will find out that  this country would be plunged into chaos, into commotion and into confusion and the President would say, ‘I do not know about it’, of course President(Jonathan) can run but he cannot run past God. He has constitutional responsibility and to claim he doesn’t know is not an excuse. So, I do hope that those Service Chiefs who we are proud of the services people like me and others like me have rendered and proud of what they are doing, will not shame themselves and shame us. This is because what this amounts to is what, in the military circle, is called very an unmilitary conduct and conduct to the prejudice of good order and military discipline. For me, you can give any excuse or you can give any rationalization or you can rationalize anything. Look Boko Haram problem has been with us since 2009 and now if we say what we have not been able to achieve since 2009 would be achieved in six weeks, all I would say is that God is a God of miracle. God can do anything but knowing what we know, look countries like Syria had election, they have full scale war all over the country. A country like Iraq had election, they had full scale war and they are still having war. Countries like Afghanistan had election, they even had election where the incumbent served his term and moved out. Even Colombia where the rebel group (FARC) has been active for more than 50 years has been having elections regularly and FARC is still very active. So, to say that what we have not been able to achieve in five years, we will achieve in six weeks, let us wait and see. When people want to make excuses, they should look for excuses that are tenable. I believe the President’s fear is not leaving office per se, because he and I have had occasions to talk about this both seriously and jovially. I believe President would want an opportunity to disengage peacefully and have a nice, decent and a glorious exit, I believe the President’s fear is, particularly, motivated by those who he see as Gen Buhari as his likely successor. I believe those people would have been telling him that Buhari is a hard man, he would fight corruption and you may end up in jail if not in grave. I believe people must have told him all sorts of things and he is not the only one, there are other people who may be afraid of Buhari. But why? I would say that Buhari has learnt his lessons. If he hasn’t learnt lessons, then he would be probably the most unlearning human being. If he has learnt lessons, he would know that you do not fight corruption by putting people in jail for 200 years. And this has been done by my own predecessor in office, General Abdulsalami Abubakar. He recovered over $750 million from Abacha’s estate without putting anybody in jail, without hurting or harming anybody. When I took over, we recovered over $1.25 billion from the same Abacha estate without hurting anybody, without harming anybody. In fact, what would be rather unfortunate is the fact that our lawyer who is still alive and able, who was chasing this money all over the world, said to us that there’s still about $1 billion to be recovered from Abacha estate but the unfortunate thing is that my successor did not do anything about it even though it was in my handing over note. I don’t think the President is afraid of being out. There’s life after Aso Villa. It depends, of course to a large extent, on how he descendsý; how his descent takes place; and how his exit takes place. Because out there in the international world, there’s so much need for the wisdom and experience of people who have done it before. They also want people who are creditable and credible.” he said

According to President Obasanjo, General Buhari would give a firm leadership to Nigeria and preside over an efficient and effective economy

"Whoever comes in at anytime in future will fight corruption, and we must even encourage successful fight of corruption. We must. Recklessness and impunity must not continue to be our part of life. Whether recklessness and impunity in the management of our economic affairs, in the running of our finances and even in political affairs, they must not be allowed to remain part of us. Buhari  has tried to do it before. I believe he will give firm leadership which is what is good for a country like this. When he was there, it was the military and military is both the executive and the legislature. In a democracy, that is not possible. I believe he knows the military, the damage that has been done to the military. It has been rendered almost impotent by a number of things that have happened and I believe he will do something about it. And if he doesn’t do it, I would say shame on him if he gets there because that is some of the things he knows. I believe he can preside over an efficient and effective economy. He has the knowledge, he has the experience, he may not be a bowl of fire as an economist but he presided over it.” he said

He advised President Jonathan to stop listening to those creating the phobia of Buhari in him

"He should not listen to those who are creating phobia, phobia of Buhari, phobia of enquiry and all that. President Jonathan has done well to the best of his ability and he has made history as the first elected Nigerian from a minority tribe and nobody can take that away from him. He can even make a second history, if it turns out that way. If he contests a fair, free and transparent election and loses, take a dignified exit. He will be on the mountain top and he would be acclaimed as a true patriot and a true democrat. What stops him from doing this?” he said

See responses to all these..hheheehe

Press statement from the office of the Ekiti state government below...

Ekiti State Governor, Mr Ayodele Fayose has described former President Olusegun Obasanjo as the number one enemy of Nigeria, saying; "he is a confusionist who has lost his status as a statesman and Nigerians should simply ignore him."

The governor,  who expressed confidence that President Goodluck Jonathan will be reelected to complete his eight years term, added that; "Obasanjo is only fighting President Jonathan because he prevented him (Obasanjo) from ruling Nigeria from his Ota Farm."

In a statement issued on Sunday by his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, Governor Fayose said "Obasanjo is a cancer that may never get cured in a lifetime.

"The moment Obasanjo is not the one controlling a house, he will want the house pulled down but this time around, he has failed."

The governor said; "Obasanjo has always benefitted from the misfortune of others and he is living with the impression that he is the wisest person in the whole world.

"When Murtala Mohammed was murdered in 1976, Obasanjo was the beneficiary.

"In 1993, he said the acclaimed winner of the June 12, 1993 presidential election, late Chief MKO Abiola was not the Messiah Nigeria needed. Instead of Obasanjo to join the clamour for the actualisation of Abiola's mandate, Obasanjo was canvassing for an Interim National Government, which he schemed to head.

"MKO Abiola died in detention in 1997 and Obasanjo became the beneficiary of his (Abiola) death.

"Despite the fact that it was the blood of MKO Abiola that Obasanjo matched on to power, not even a street was named after Abiola throughout Obasanjo’s eight years as president.

"Today, Obasanjo is fighting President Jonathan,  the man who has done what he failed to do for Abiola, the Yoruba people and Nigerians as a whole when he was president for eight years, simply because he does not want anyone to equal his record as Nigeria's longest serving president.

"President Jonathan has made it impossible for Obasanjo to run his presidency for him and for this reason, he is supporting Buhari, hoping that he will be the one to nominate ministers for Buhari if he becomes president.

"Abanije eniyan to nba eeyan je kiri, ojo to ba dekun ibaje ni won maa ba oun naa je kanle ( He who destroys will ultimately ends up in destruction).

"However, I have this bad news for Obasanjo. Nigeria is not his football that he can kick around as he likes. President Jonathan will be reelected, and Nigeria will be freed from his (Obasanjo) bondage once and for all."
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The spokesperson of the PDP Presidential Campaign organization, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, has reacted to the recent attack by former President Olusegun Obasanjo on President Jonathan. At a press conference held yesterday February 15th in Abuja, Mr Fani-Kayode accused the former President of being angry at President Jonathan because he, Jonathan, refused to be teleguided by Obasanjo since he resumed as President in 2011. He described the allegations made by Chief Obasanjo as serious and grave. Full text of what he said at the press conference after the cut...

President Olusegun Obasanjo's allegations are serious and grave. They are also reckless. He has raised issues and made assertions that are capable of derailing our democracy and creating chaos in the land. It is vital that we consider his motives for this latest outburst and his credentials as a leader and an elder statesman.

The truth is that he knows that President Goodluck Jonathan will win next month's presidential election and that is why he wants to destroy the credibility of the whole process right from the outset. What he is trying to say in his latest contribution is that if President Jonathan wins, then the election must have been rigged right from the outset. This is not only wrong but it is also unfair and uncharitable. If President Obasanjo has any evidence to prove his weighty allegations he ought to present it before the Council of State and take it up there.

He should also report to INEC itself and present the data of whatever sinister plan he believes that President Jonathan has to stay in power ''by hook or by crook'' to them. He should tell INEC whatever it is that Jonathan is doing in order for him to stay in power by all means and he should give them all the details. That should be the starting point.

The record shows that this is not the first time that INEC have postponed elections. In 2011 during the National Assembly elections INEC not only cancelled the elections just after they started but they also postponed them by two weeks. The heavens did not fall then and neither did President Obasanjo accuse INEC or the President of having any grand plan to stay in power by hook or by crook at that time. One wonders what has suddenly changed.

What INEC has done by postponing the elections is firmly within the confines of the law and they have probably saved thousands of lives by doing so. They have also given the 34 per cent of Nigerians that had not collected their PVC's as at the relevant time the opportunity to do so. Without this postponement all those people would have been disenfranchised and it would have placed a dark cloud over the whole process. Why should President Obasanjo have a problem with that?

President Jonathan has re-affirmed his commitment to the democratic process over and over again and he has also said that the handover date of May 29th is sacrosanct. In view of these assurances, one wonders why President Obasanjo is creating such a hue and cry over nothing. What is he seeing that no one else can see? One wonders what his motives are? Does he have to rule every government by proxy? Must every leader take instructions from him? Is it a case of ''if I cannot control you and tell you what to do then you must go?''

President Obasanjo spoke about President Laurent Gbagbo and he claimed that President Jonathan was attempting to do a Gbagbo in Nigeria. The question that must be put to him is this: ''who got Gbagbo out?'' Was it not Jonathan's government that played a key role in ensuring that democracy was fully established in the Ivory Coast and did he not play a key role in ensuring that the Gbagbo plan ''stay in power forever plan'' did not work? If anyone doubts this they should ask President Alhassan Outtara of La Cote D'Ivoire the role that Jonathan and Nigeria played in helping to restore democracy and stability back to his country.

They should also find out the role that President Obasanjo played in attempting to keep President Laurent Gbagbo in power at all costs and the deep friendship that exists between the two men. It is a matter of fact and public record that when he was President of Nigeria, President Obasanjo, perhaps more than any other African Head of State with the exception of President Jacob Zuma of South Africa, propped up and supported President Gbagbo and it is an irony of fate and history that he is now condemning the actions of his old friend and accusing others of trying to emulate them.

Again it is ironic that President Obasanjo has accused President Jonathan of having a grand plan to stay in power at all costs and by all means yet it is the same Obasanjo that tried to stay in power for a third term even though the Nigerian constitution specifically forbade it. He tried all he could to change the constitution but the whole thing failed and he was compelled to leave power.

After Jonathan came to power, Obasanjo not only tried to control and teleguide him but he also asked him to do a number of things that were simply wrong and unacceptable. It is for President Goodluck Jonathan himself to divulge those things and I am sure that he will do so at the appropriate time. Needless to say President Jonathan refused to be teleguided and told what to do even though at all times he showed Obasanjo maximum respect and accorded him all the privileges, access and courtesies that is due to a former Head of State and a father and mentor. This continued to be the case even after Obasanjo consistently attempted to undermine his government and ridicule his efforts.

Yet President Obasanjo could not be appeased and was not satisfied. As far as he was concerned, he must either control Jonathan or Jonathan had to go. That is why he decided to secretly support the APC and became their ''navigator in chief''. He was determined to pull the whole house down rather than allow Jonathan to return to power. This is simply because he believes that if he cannot control someone that person must be destroyed. Control and domination is an obsession for Obasanjo. That is the bottom line. He is prepared to put even the devil in power provided he can control him. That is why he is so determined to stop Jonathan and put in place an Interim Government which he, or one of his surrogates, will head. That is his plan and he is determined to achieve it no matter what it takes.

Obasanjo does not want genuine democracy. He only pretends to want it. What he wants is control and a stooge in power. It does not matter what type of government it is as long as he controls it and it is headed by his puppet. It can be a military government, a civilian one, a democratic one, an interim government or a government of National Unity. To Obasanjo it does not matter as long as he can control it. That is his objective. That is why he hates Jonathan so much and that is why he wishes to stop him at all costs.

The bottom line is this: President Obasanjo's grouse with President Jonathan is personal and it has nothing to do with Nigeria. He should leave Nigeria out of it and let us all be. If he has a personal score to settle with Jonathan he should not do so at the expense of the peace and stability of Nigeria. If he wants to stop Jonathan then let him attempt to do so through the democratic process and through the ballot box and not through foul and unconstitutional means. We said it before and we will say it again: gone are the days that any President can be teleguided and controlled because we have all come of age.

We continue to hold President Obasanjo in high esteem but his recent actions and utterances are beyond the pale. He has been unfair to Jonathan, to Nigeria and even to himself. Most importantly the days of intimidating others with his harsh words and overbearing influence are long over. Obasanjo is not God. Only God is God and He alone determines the fortunes of men and the destiny of nations.

We sincerely hope that President Obasanjo appreciates the gravity of what he is attempting to do and we shall continue to pray that God will guide him and deliver him from whatever it is that makes him want to destroy all those that love him the most. Whether he likes it or not democracy has come to stay in Nigeria and the will of the Nigerian people will be done in next month’s presidential elections and thereafter. We believe that is God's plan and not even one million Obasanjo's can stop it.

God bless Nigeria.

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Jonathan, Obasanjo

The Peoples Democratic Party Presidential Campaign Organisation has told former President Olusegun Obasanjo to stop playing God over his numerous criticisms of President Goodluck Jonathan.

The organsiation was reacting to the claim by Obasanjo that President Jonathan was planning to perpetuate himself in office.

Apart from this, the former President also accused Jonathan of planning to cause chaos if he lost the March 28 presidential election.

But the Director of Media and Publicity of the organsiation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, debunked the allegations, saying the former President under whom he served as Minister of Aviation and Special Assistant on Public Communication, was trying to play God.

Fani-Kayode, who spoke at a press briefing in Abuja on Sunday, accused his former boss of trying in vain to control President Jonathan.

He said the problem between the two members of the ruling party had nothing to do with Nigeria, and called on the former President to leave Nigeria out of the issues between him and the President.

He said, “The bottom line is this: President Obasanjo’s grouse with President Jonathan is personal and it has nothing to do with Nigeria.

“He should leave Nigeria out of it and let us all be. If he has a personal score to settle with Jonathan he should not do so at the expense of the peace and stability of Nigeria.

“If he wants to stop Jonathan then let him attempt to do so through the democratic process and through the ballot box and not through foul and unconstitutional means.

“We said it before and we will say it again: gone are the days that any President can be tele-guided and controlled because we have all come of age.

“We continue to hold President Obasanjo in high esteem but his recent actions and utterances are beyond the pale. He has been unfair to Jonathan, to Nigeria and even to himself.

“Most importantly the days of intimidating others with his harsh words and overbearing influence are long over. Obasanjo is not God.

“Only God is God and He alone determines the fortunes of men and the destiny of nations.”

Fani-Kayode said that after Jonathan came to power, Obasanjo did not only try to control and tele-guide the President, but he also asked him to do a number of things that he said were simply wrong and unacceptable.

Asked to tell Nigerians those issues, he refused. He merely said that the President would speak on the matter anytime he likes.

See another......

 

The youth wing of the apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, the Ohanaeze Ndigbo, has warned ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo against making inciting comments on the person of President Goodluck Jonathan.
Obasanjo was recently quoted in the media as saying that Jonathan shifted the election dates because he was afraid of defeat.
He also said Jonathan stood the risk of being jailed for corruption should the opposition All Progressives Congress presidential candidate, Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) win the poll.
But the Ohanaeze Youth Council warned Obasanjo to stop inciting Nigerians against the President, who, according to the group, “has dwarfed the achievements of all former Nigerian leaders.”
The National President of OYC, Okechukwu Isiguzoro while reacting to the assertions, said “Obasanjo should stop fanning the embers of war through his unguarded utterances against a sitting President.”
Isiguzoro accused Obasanjo of plotting, in connivance with some undemocratic elements, to topple Jonathan’s government through inciting comments, warning that any attempt to derail Nigeria’s democracy would be resisted.
“Obasanjo is a disappointment to democracy. He should not plunge Nigeria into another civil war through his hate remarks against Jonathan,” he said.
Isiguzoro said Jonathan had “by all standards proved to be a core democrat, otherwise the likes of Obasanjo should be cooling their feet in the jail by now because of their evil deeds while in office.”
He said, “Obasanjo should know that he has expired politically and Nigerian youths cannot allow him and other spent forces that belong to the past to ruin our future.
“Nigeria cannot buy his belated and selfish idea of Interim National Government, and all those plotting to put Nigeria backwards will be disappointed because the youths are now wiser.”
Isiguzoro further argued that “if anyone should be afraid of going to jail because of corruption and illegality, it is Obasanjo who superintended over the destruction of Odi town while he was in office.
He said that President Jonathan deserved the right to seek re-election and should not be deprived of that right by “members of a self-serving cabal who think that Nigeria is their private estate.”
This is real WAR abeg...hehehe
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