BREAKING NEWS: President Jonathan Replies Obasanjo
Read it here...
December 20th 2013
His Excellency,
Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, GCFR
Agbe L’Oba House, Quarry Road,
Ibara, Abeokuta.
RE: BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE
I wish to formally acknowledge your letter dated December 2, 2013 and other previous correspondence similar to it.
You will recall that all the letters were brought to me by hand.
Although both of us discussed some of the issues in those letters, I had
not, before now, seen the need for any formal reply since, to me, they
contained advice from a former President to a serving President.
Obviously, you felt differently because in your last letter, you
complained about my not acknowledging or replying your previous letters.
It is with the greatest possible reluctance that I now write this
reply. I am most uneasy about embarking on this unprecedented and
unconventional form of open communication between me and a former leader
of our country because I know that there are more acceptable and
dignified means of doing so.
But I feel obliged to reply your
letter for a number of reasons: one, you formally requested for a reply
and not sending you one will be interpreted as ignoring a former
President.
Secondly, Nigerians know the role you have played
in my political life and given the unfortunate tone of your letter,
clearly, the grapes have gone sour. Therefore, my side of the story
also needs to be told.
The third reason why I must reply you
in writing is that your letter is clearly a threat to national security
as it may deliberately or inadvertently set the stage for subversion.
The fourth reason for this reply is that you raised very weighty
issues, and since the letter has been made public, Nigerians are
expressing legitimate concerns. A response from me therefore, becomes
very necessary.
The fifth reason is that this letter may
appear in biographies and other books which political commentators on
Nigeria’s contemporary politics may write. It is only proper for such
publications to include my comments on the issues raised in your letter.
Sixthly, you are very unique in terms of the governance of this
country. You were a military Head of State for three years and eight
months, and an elected President for eight years. That means you have
been the Head of Government of Nigeria for about twelve years. This must
have, presumably, exposed you to a lot of information. Thus when you
make a statement, there is the tendency for people to take it seriously.
The seventh reason is that 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.
The eighth reason is
that 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.
The ninth reason
is that your letter conveys to me the feeling that landmines have been
laid for me. Therefore, Nigerians need to have my response to the issues
raised before the mines explode.
The tenth and final reason
why my reply is inevitable is that you have 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.
Let
me now comment on the issues you raised. In commenting I wish to crave
your indulgence to compare what is happening now to what took place
before. This, I believe, will enable Nigerians see things in better
perspective because we must know where we are coming from so as to
appreciate where we now are, and to allow us clearly map out where we
are going.
You raised concerns about the security situation in
the country. I assure you that I am fully aware of the responsibility
of government for ensuring the security of the lives and property of
citizens. 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.
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. You also know that the Governor
of Borno State provided the items you mentioned to me as carrots. Having
done all this and more, it is interesting that you still accuse me of
not acting on your hardly original recommendation that the carrot and
stick option be deployed to solve the Boko Haram problem.
Your
suggestion that we are pursuing a “war against violence without
understanding the root causes of the violence and applying solutions to
deal with all the underlying factors” is definitely misplaced because
from the onset of this administration, we have been implementing a
multifaceted strategy against militancy, insurgency and terrorism that
includes poverty alleviation, economic development, education and social
reforms.
Even though basic education is the constitutional
responsibility of States, my administration has, as part of its efforts
to address ignorance and poor education which have been identified as
two of the factors responsible for making some of our youth easily
available for use as cannon fodder by insurgents and terrorists,
committed huge funds to the provision of modern basic education schools
for the Almajiri in several Northern States. The Federal Government
under my leadership has also set up nine additional universities in the
Northern States and three in the Southern States in keeping with my
belief that proper education is the surest way of emancipating and
empowering our people.
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. 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.
In
terms of general insecurity in the country and particularly the crisis
in the Niger Delta, 2007 was one of the worst periods in our history.
You will recall three incidents that happened in 2007 which seemed to
have been orchestrated to achieve sinister objectives. Here in Abuja, a
petrol tanker loaded with explosives was to be rammed into the INEC
building. But luckily for the country, an electric pole stopped the
tanker from hitting the INEC building. It is clear that this incident
was meant to exploit the general sense of insecurity in the nation at
the time to achieve the aim of stopping the 2007 elections. It is
instructive that you, on a number of occasions, alluded to this fact.
When that incident failed, an armed group invaded Yenagoa one evening
with the intent to assassinate me. Luckily for me, they could not.
They again attacked and bombed my country home on a night when I was
expected in the village. Fortunately, as God would have it, I did not
make the trip.
I recall that immediately after both incidents,
I got calls expressing the concern of Abuja. But Baba, you know that
despite the apparent concern of Abuja, no single arrest was ever made. I
was then the Governor of Bayelsa State and the PDP Vice-Presidential
candidate. The security people ordinarily should have unraveled the
assassination attempt on me.
You also raised the issues of
kidnapping, piracy and armed robbery. These are issues all Nigerians,
including me are very concerned about. While we will continue to do our
utmost best to reduce all forms of criminality to the barest minimum in
our country, it is just as well to remind you that the first major case
of kidnapping for ransom took place around 2006. And the Boko Haram
crisis dates back to 2002. Goodluck Jonathan was not the President of
the country then. Also, armed robbery started in this country
immediately after the civil war and since then, it has been a problem to
all succeeding governments. For a former Head of Government, who
should know better, to present these problems as if they were creations
of the Jonathan Administration is most uncharitable.
Having
said that, let me remind you of some of the things we have done to curb
violent crime in the country. We have reorganized the Nigerian Police
Force and appointed a more dynamic leadership to oversee its affairs. We
have also improved its manpower levels as well as funding, training and
logistical support.
We have also increased the surveillance
capabilities of the Police and provided its air-wing with thrice the
number of helicopters it had before the inception of the present
administration. The National Civil Defence and Security Corps has been
armed to make it a much more effective ally of the police and other
security agencies in the war against violent crime. At both domestic and
international levels, we are doing everything possible to curb the
proliferation of the small arms and light weapons with which armed
robberies, kidnappings and piracy are perpetrated. We have also enhanced
security at our borders to curb cross-border crimes.
We are
aggressively addressing the challenge of crude oil theft in
collaboration with the state Governors. In addition, the Federal
Government has engaged the British and US governments for their support
in the tracking of the proceeds from the purchase of stolen crude.
Similarly, a regional Gulf of Guinea security strategy has been
initiated to curb crude oil theft and piracy.
Perhaps the
most invidious accusation in your letter is the allegation that I have
placed over one thousand Nigerians on a political watch list, and that I
am training snipers and other militia to assassinate people. Baba, I
don’t know where you got that from but you do me grave injustice in not
only lending credence to such baseless rumours, but also publicizing it.
You mentioned God seventeen times in your letter. Can you as a
Christian hold the Bible and say that you truly believe this allegation?
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.
I also find it difficult to believe that you will accuse me of
assisting murderers, or assigning a presidential delegation to welcome a
murderer. This is a most unconscionable and untrue allegation. It is
incumbent on me to remind you that I am fully conscious of the dictates
of my responsibilities to God and our dear nation. It is my hope that
devious elements will not take advantage of your baseless allegation to
engage in brazen and wanton assassination of high profile politicians as
before, hiding under the alibi your “open letter” has provided for
them.
Nevertheless, I have directed the security agencies and
requested the National Human Rights Commission to carry out a thorough
investigation of these criminal allegations and make their findings
public.
That corruption is an issue in Nigeria is
indisputable. It has been with us for many years. You will recall that
your kinsman, the renowned afro-beat maestro, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti
famously sang about it during your first stint as Head of State. Sonny
Okosun also sang about corruption. And as you may recall, a number of
Army Generals were to be retired because of corruption before the Dimka
coup. Also, the late General Murtala Mohammed himself wanted to retire
some top people in his cabinet on corruption-related issues before he
was assassinated. Even in this Fourth Republic, the Siemens and
Halliburton scandals are well known.
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.
Baba, I am amazed that with all the knowledge
garnered from your many years at the highest level of governance in our
country, you could still believe the spurious allegation contained in a
letter written to me by the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria
(CBN), and surreptitiously obtained by you, alleging that USD49.8
billion, a sum equal to our entire national budget for two years, is
“unaccounted for” by the NNPC. Since, as President, you also served for
many years as Minister of Petroleum Resources, you very well know the
workings of the corporation. It is therefore intriguing that you have
made such an assertion. You made a lot of insinuations about oil theft,
shady dealings at the NNPC and the NNPC not remitting the full proceeds
of oil sales to the of CBN. Now that the main source of the allegations
which you rehashed has publicly stated that he was “misconstrued”,
perhaps you will find it in your heart to apologize for misleading
unwary Nigerians and impugning the integrity of my administration on
that score.
Your claim of “Atlantic Oil loading about 130, 000
barrels sold by Shell and managed on behalf of NPDC with no sale
proceeds paid into the NPDC account” is also disjointed and baseless
because no such arrangement as you described exists between Atlantic Oil
and the Nigeria Petroleum Development Company. NPDC currently produces
about 138, 000 barrels of oil per day from over 7 producing assets. The
Crude Oil Marketing Division (COMD) of the NNPC markets all of this
production on behalf of NPDC with proceeds paid into NPDC account.
I am really shocked that with all avenues open to you as a former Head
of State for the verification of any information you have received about
state affairs, you chose to go public with allegations of “high
corruption” without offering a shred of supporting evidence. One of your
political “sons” similarly alleged recently that he told me of a
minister who received a bribe of $250 Million from an oil company and I
did nothing about it. He may have been playing from a shared script, but
we have not heard from him again since he was challenged to name the
minister involved and provide the evidence to back his claim. I urge
you, in the same vein, to furnish me with the names, facts and figures
of a single verifiable case of the “high corruption” which you say
stinks all around my administration and see whether the corrective
action you advocate does not follow promptly. And while you are at it,
you may also wish to tell Nigerians the true story of questionable
waivers of signature bonuses between 2000 and 2007.
While, by
the Grace of God Almighty, I am the first President from a minority
group, I am never unmindful of the fact that I was elected leader of the
whole of Nigeria and I have always acted in the best interest of all
Nigerians. You referred to the divisive actions and inflammatory
utterances of some individuals from the South-South and asserted that I
have done nothing to call them to order or distance myself from their
ethnic chauvinism. Again that is very untrue. I am as committed to the
unity of this country as any patriot can be and I have publicly declared
on many occasions that no person who threatens other Nigerians or parts
of the country is acting on my behalf.
It is very regrettable
that in your letter, you seem to place sole responsibility for the
ongoing intrigues and tensions in the PDP at my doorstep, and going on
from that position, you direct all your appeals for a resolution at me.
Baba, let us all be truthful to ourselves, God and posterity. 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. But, as leader of the party, I will continue to do my
best to unite it so that we can move forward with strength and unity of
purpose. The PDP has always recovered from previous crises with renewed
vigour and vitality. I am very optimistic that that will be the case
again this time. The PDP will overcome any temporary setback, remain a
strong party and even grow stronger.
Instigating people to
cause problems and disaffection within the party is something that you
are certainly familiar with. You will recall that founding fathers of
the Party were frustrated out of the Party at a time. Late Chief Sunday
Awoniyi was pushed out, Late Chief Solomon Lar left and later came
back, Chief Audu Ogbeh and Chief Tom Ikimi also left. Chief Okwesilieze
Nwodo left and later came back. In 2005/2006, link-men were sent to take
over party structures from PDP Governors in an unveiled attempt to
undermine the state governors. In spite of that, the Governors did not
leave the Party because nobody instigated and encouraged them to do so.
The charge that I was involved in anti-party activities in governorship
elections in Edo, Ondo, Lagos, and Anambra States is also very
unfortunate. I relate with all Governors irrespective of political party
affiliation but I have not worked against the interest of the PDP.
What I have not done is to influence the electoral process to favour our
Party. You were definitely never so inclined, since you openly boasted
in your letter of how you supported Alhaji Shehu Shagari against Chief
Obafemi Awolowo, Chief Nnamdi Azikiwe and others in the 1979
presidential elections while serving as a military Head of State. You
and I clearly differ in this regard, because as the President of
Nigeria, I believe it is my duty and responsibility to create a level
playing field for all parties and all candidates.
Recalling
how the PDP lost in states where we were very strong in 2003 and 2007
such as Edo, Ondo, Imo, Bauchi, Anambra, and Borno, longstanding members
of our great party with good memory will also consider the charge of
anti-party activities you made against me as misdirected and hugely
hypocritical. It certainly was not Goodluck Jonathan’s “personal
ambition or selfish interest” that caused the PDP to lose the
governorship of Ogun State and all its senatorial seats in the last
general elections.
You quoted me as saying that I have not
told anybody that I will seek another term in office in 2015. You and
your ambitious acolytes within the party have clearly decided to act on
your conclusion that “only a fool will believe that statement” and
embark on a virulent campaign to harass me out of an undeclared
candidature for the 2015 presidential elections so as to pave the way
for a successor anointed by you.
You will recall that you
serially advised me that we should refrain from discussing the 2015
general elections for now so as not to distract elected public officials
from urgent task of governance. While you have apparently moved away
from that position, I am still of the considered opinion that it would
have been best for us to do all that is necessary to refrain from
heating up the polity at this time. Accordingly, I have already informed
Nigerians that I will only speak on whether or not I will seek a second
term when it is time for such declarations. Your claims about
discussions I had with you, Governor Gabriel Suswam and others are
wrong, but in keeping with my declared stance, I will reserve further
comments until the appropriate time.
Your allegation that I
asked half a dozen African Presidents to speak to you about my alleged
ambition for 2015, is also untrue. I have never requested any African
President to discuss with you on my behalf. In our discussion, I
mentioned to you that four Presidents told me that they were concerned
about the political situation in Nigeria and intended to talk to you
about it. So far, only three of them have confirmed to me that they
have had any discussion with you. If I made such a request, why would I
deny it?
The issue of Buruji Kashamu is one of those lies that
should not be associated with a former President. The allegation that I
am imposing Kashamu on the South-West is most unfortunate and
regrettable. I do not even impose Party officials in my home state of
Bayelsa and there is no zone in this country where I have imposed
officials. So why would I do so in the South West? Baba, in the light
of Buruji’s detailed public response to your “open letter”, it will be
charitable for you to render an apology to Nigerians and I.
On
the issue of investors being scared to come to Nigeria, economic
dormancy, and stagnation, I will just refer you to FDI statistics from
2000 to 2013. Within the last three years, Nigeria has emerged as the
preferred destination for investments in Africa, driven by successful
government policies to attract foreign investors. For the second year
running, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Investments (UNCTAD)
has ranked Nigeria as the number one destination for investments in
Africa, and as having the fourth highest returns in the world.
Today, Nigeria is holding 18 percent of all foreign investments in
Africa and 60 percent of all foreign investments in the ECOWAS
Sub-Region. Kindly note also that in the seven years between 2000 and
2007 when you were President, Nigeria attracted a total of $24.9 Billion
in FDI. As a result of our efforts which you disparage, the country
has seen an FDI inflow of $25.7 Billion in just three years which is
more than double the FDI that has gone to the second highest African
destination. We have also maintained an annual national economic growth
rate of close to seven per cent since the inception of this
administration. What then, is the justification for your allegation of
scared investors and economic dormancy?
Although it was not
emphasized in your letter of December 2, 2013, you also conveyed, in
previous correspondence, the impression that you were ignorant of the
very notable achievements of my administration in the area of foreign
relations. It is on record that under my leadership, Nigeria has played a
key role in resolving the conflicts in Niger, Cote d’Ivoire, Mali,
Guinea Bissau and others.
The unproductive rivalry that
existed between Nigeria and some ECOWAS countries has also been ended
under my watch and Nigeria now has better relations with all the ECOWAS
countries. At the African Union, we now have a Commissioner at the AU
Commission after being without one for so long. We were in the United
Nations Security Council for the 2010/2011 Session and we have been
voted in again for the 2014/2015 Session. From independence to 2010, we
were in the U.N. Security Council only three times but from 2010 to
2015, we will be there two times.
This did not happen by
chance. My Administration worked hard for it and we continue to
maintain the best possible relations with all centres of global
political and economic power. I find it hard therefore, to believe your
assertions of untoward concern in the international community over the
state of governance in Nigeria
With respect to the Brass and
Olokola LNG projects, you may have forgotten that though you started
these projects, Final Investment Decisions were never reached. For your
information, NNPC has not withdrawn from either the Olokola or the
Brass LNG projects.
On the Rivers State Water Project, you
were misled by your informant. The Federal Government under my watch has
never directed or instructed the Africa Development Bank to put on hold
any project to be executed in Rivers state or any other State within
the Federation. The Rivers Water Project was not originally in the
borrowing plan but it was included in April 2013 and appraised in May.
Negotiations are ongoing with the AfDB. I have no doubt that you are
familiar with the entire process that prefaces the signing of a
Subsidiary Loan Agreement as in this instance.
Let me assure
you and all Nigerians that I do not engage in negative political actions
and will never, as President, oppress the people of a State or deprive
them of much needed public services as a result of political
disagreement
I have noted your comments on the proposed
National Conference. Contrary to the insinuation in your letter, the
proposed conference is aimed at bringing Nigerians together to resolve
contentious national issues in a formal setting. This is a sure way of
promoting greater national consensus and unity, and not a recipe for
“disunity, confusion and chaos” as you alleged in your letter.
Having twice held the high office of President, Commander-In-Chief of
the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, I trust that you
will understand that I cannot possibly find the time to offer a
line-by-line response to all the accusations and allegations made in
your letter while dealing with other pressing demands of office and more
urgent affairs of state.
I have tried, however, to respond to
only the most serious of the charges which question my sincerity,
personal honour, and commitment to the oath which I have sworn, to
always uphold and protect the interests of all Nigerians, and promote
their well-being.
In closing, let me state that you have done
me grave injustice with your public letter in which you wrongfully
accused me of deceit, deception, dishonesty, incompetence, clannishness,
divisiveness and insincerity, amongst other ills.
I have not,
myself, ever claimed to be all-knowing or infallible, but I have never
taken Nigeria or Nigerians for granted as you implied, and I will
continue to do my utmost to steer our ship of state towards the brighter
future to which we all aspire.
Please accept the assurances of my highest consideration and warm regards.
GOODLUCK EBELE JONATHAN
Related Posts via Categories
Like Our Facebook Page
Follow Us on Twitter
BB: 7ABCA2A7 Channel Pin: C00352CD2
WhatsApp: (234) 08105649346
Phone: (234) 08121807240
E-mail: ackcity@gmail.com
Follow Us on Twitter
BB: 7ABCA2A7 Channel Pin: C00352CD2
WhatsApp: (234) 08105649346
Phone: (234) 08121807240
E-mail: ackcity@gmail.com
Kudos to Mr President, am sure ur letter will get you more sympathizers
ReplyDeletesites have a peek at this site see this best replica bags great post to read sites
ReplyDelete