LAGOS — Former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo has, in a scathing preview of the forthcoming general elections, alleged plans by President Muhammadu Buhari to return himself to power through manipulation of state institutions including the judiciary and the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.
Reacting last night, The
Presidency, via a live television programme, Politics Today, on Channels
Television said it will not join issues with Chief Obasanjo, but asked
him to explain to Nigerians whether elections under his administration
were free and fair.
Buhari won’t join issues with Obasanjo —Presidency
The
Presidency last night said it will not join issues with former
President Olusegun Obasanjo over his allegations of increasing rate of
insecurity, impunity in the system and the alleged plot by the ruling
All Progressives Congress, APC, to collaborate with the Independent
National Electoral Commission, INEC to rig the forthcoming elections.
The
Presidency in a live television programme on Politics Today by Channels
Television also asked President Obasanjo to explain to Nigerians
whether elections under his administration was free and fair.
According
to the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Chief
Femi Adesina, “Let me start by saying that President Muhammadu Buhari
has abiding respect for former President Olusegun Obasanjo. You know
they come from a constituency in which seniority is forever.
“President
Obasanjo was superior to President Buhari in the military. President
Buhari served under him for three and a quarter years as oil minister.
So, former President Obasanjo is a senior to President Buhari any day
any time and President gives him due courtesies whenever they meet.
“So
President Buhari will never be rude, that respect is abiding and
enduring. Talking of the statement today, I can only say that what the
former President had said is opinion of a man. There are about 196
million Nigerians. If one man says anything, it is as best his opinion,
it does not mean that is the gospel.
“What the former President has said is his opinion and this is a democracy, he has a right to it.
“You
also forget that in this country when former President Obasanjo was in
power there were many things that constituted impunity in that
government. So like they said the onlooker sees more of the game than
the player.
“It is so easy for the former President to sit back
in his chair reclining and criticise a government but many things that
constitute impunity would have happened under his government.
“Like I said and like you have observed it is just an opinion of one man and it doesn’t constitute the gospel.”
On
allegation of increasing rate of insecurity he said: “There are
security challenges but I tell you that these security challenges are
being tackled.
“Even under the time of Obasanjo, there had been
Odi killings. Under him was when we had Zaki Biam massacre, under him
there were lots OPC clashes, under him there were Sharia riots, OPC
ethnic clashes, lots of lives lost. So nobody can just come and sit in
judgment over another government, when worst things happen under his
government.”
Also on the allegation that the ruling APC was
planning to rig the forthcoming elections in collaboration with the
Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, he said, “Yes INEC can
always defend itself and I am sure they would.
“But then imagine
that kind of allegation coming from somebody who told us in 2007 that
the election will be do-or-die and the beneficiary of that election came
out to tell us that the election that brought him to power was marred
in all respect.
“Now for that kind of a person to come out and
tell us that the election will not be be free and fair, was there free
and fair election when he conducted his own? That is the question
Nigerians should be asking.”
Mixed reactions
Mixed reactions yesterday followed Obasanjo’s assertions against President Buhari.
Among
those who reacted were the PAN Niger Delta Forum, PANDEF, Arewa
Consultative Forum, ACF, Afenifere, Ohanaeze Ndigbo and some leading
lights in politics and civil society.
Buhari adopting Abacha strategy because he wants to rig poll — PANDEF
PANDEFF,
the umbrella body of traditional rulers, leaders, and stakeholders of
the coastal states of Niger Delta, said Presidential Buhari was
resorting to the tactics of Abacha because he wants to tamper the 2019
presidential elections.
National Secretary, PANDEF, Dr. Alfred
Mulade, told Vanguard on phone, last night: “The truth of the matter is
that the country is more aware now that it is a question of rigging of
elections, which former president and statesman, Chief Olusegun
Obasanjo, has drawn the attention of the world to.
“PANDEF is
saying that if there is any form of rigging, the people will resist it
because Nigerians are tired of the present regime.
“The issue of
rigging is a matter everybody should put his eyes on and ensure that it
does not repeat itself like what happened in Osun State during the
gubernatorial election where there ought to have been a clear winner,
but the course of victory was reordered to suit the ruling party,” he
said.
We have a civilian dictatorship — Afenifere
Reacting
to Obasanjo’s statement, the pan-Yoruba socio-political organization,
Afenifere, said Nigeria is experiencing a civilian dictatorship.
Afenifere’s
National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Yinka Odumakin said: “We are already
in another Abacha regime. We have seen disobedience of court orders, the
decimation of every perceived opponent, and absence of freedom of
speech. We have seen the hounding of people. What we are in today is
worse than Abacha, we knew what we had under Abacha. So, we have a
civilian dictatorship in Nigeria.”
Food for thought — Ohanaeze.
Ohanaeze
Ndigbo on its part stated that the political manoeuvrings towards the
2019 presidential election were indications that vindicated Obasanjo’s
statement.
In a statement issued in Abakaliki, the National
Publicity Secretary of the body, Uche Achi-Okpagha said: “Every
indication testifies to Obasanjo’s vindication. President Obasanjo (as
he then was) appointed a South-Easterner, GEJ appointed a northerner,
but apparently, owing to his ulterior motives seemingly playing out now,
he appointed a northerner as lNEC Chairman.
“The bleeding issues
are the latest appointment of Amina Zakari who has been an age long
close confidant of Buhari and the callous and blatant move to remove the
Chief Justice of Nigeria. The majority fear and alarming opinion are to
the fact that the presidency wants to remove the CJN and plant a
northerner, as usual, who would play to the political gallery and
instruct appointed judges to make electoral decisions favourable to the
APC.
“I sincerely identify with Obasanjo in his fears and posit
that a four-year-old government should be able to tell Nigerians that ‘l
did this and that’ not that ‘l will do this and that.’
Meanwhile, Ohanaeze Ndigbo is expected to take a formal position on the election Thursday.
Obasanjo should act like a statesman –ACF
The
Area Consultative Forum on its part has called on Obasanjo to behave
like the statesman that he is by desisting from running down democratic
institutions but encouraging them to perform better.
Reacting to the development, the National Secretary of the ACF, Anthony Sani said Obasanjo was driven by his partisanship.
While
admitting that he had not seen the statement, the secretary noted that
most Nigerians are not aware of any plan by Abacha to rig election
because “Abacha never conducted elections.
“If that is what he
Obasanjo said, I would submit that most Nigerians were not aware since
Abacha never conducted any elections before he died.
“And given
the fact that we do not know the alleged plans by the present regime to
rig the elections, it would be wrong for any group to be worried. This
is because any worry would amount to vote of no confidence on our
democratic institutions like INEC which has assured the nation of the
commission’s readiness to conduct free and fair elections by improving
on the performance recorded in the previous elections in 2015.
“Even
though the former president is fully partisan and may go any length to
cast aspersions on the ruling party and the democratic institutions
under her watch, it would be worthy of him to note that he cannot plough
off his status as a statesman who is expected to help build and
strengthen our democratic institutions for performance, and not to run
them down without suggestions on how best to improve them” he said.
Obasanjo saying the obvious—Adebanjo
Also
throwing his weight behind the former President, a leader of the
pan-Yoruba socio-political organization, Afenifere, Chief Ayo Adebanjo
Adebanjo
said: “That is obvious to every reasonable person. What else is
responsible for all the attacks on the opposition now? Everything to
make the elections free and fair, he (Buhari) opposed it. Obasanjo is
just saying the obvious.
Obasanjo’s concerns vindicate us — PDP
The
Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, meanwhile has said that the assertions
made by President Obasanjo vindicated its position on the partisanship
of the electoral commission.
The party in a statement issued by
its spokesman, Kola Ologbondiyan said Obasanjo’s submission has also
reinforced its position that President Buhari, and the All Progressives
Congress, APC, “having realized that there is no way he can win in a
free and fair election, is now besieging all democratic institutions,
including the judiciary, the legislature, the Independent National
Electoral Commission, INEC, while engaging in acts that threaten the
unity, peace and corporate existence of our dear nation.
The
statement read: “The whole world can see how President Buhari and APC’s
desperation for power is putting the lives of over 200 million Nigerian
citizens at great risk as their actions stoke violence and push our dear
nation to the precipice.
“We are however not surprised that the
APC, a party that has shown that it is completely anti-people, quickly
rose in defence of the Buhari-led Presidency’s assault on our democratic
order. The APC has always been a deceptive soulless mob that would
rather have our nation burn than to be out of power.
“President
Obasanjo’s concern is, therefore, a clarion call to all compatriots,
irrespective of ethnic, religious and political affiliations to rise in
defence of our democracy.”
The ruling All Progressives Congress,
APC in its response at a press conference Sunday evening in Abuja,
addressed by its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu,
said during Chief Obasanjo’s regime, government policies were determined
by whatever mood he (OBJ) found himself and all decisions of government
were subjected to his whims.
“When you are used to a particular
thing, that means something you know how to do very well. For eight
years of President Obasanjo, all the elections he held, in fact his
government policies were determined by whatever mood he finds himself
and all decisions of government were brought under his wings, and all
that he did in those eight years are what is hunting him.
“Obasanjo
cannot imagine that it is possible for a government to allow INEC
statutory independence that it has. We have had 93 elections since APC
came to power and we are sure that all those elections were conducted
without any interference from this government. In fact, if there is
anything you want to credit this government with, it is the fact that
institutions are allowed to fulfill their mandate without anybody’s
interference. So, we can understand where the former President is coming
from, his past is haunting him.”
Other reactions
Mallam
Auwal Ibrahim Rafsanjani, head of Transparency International, Nigeria
and also executive director of the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy
Centre (CISLAC) in his response said the 2019 General Election had
become a source of serious concern especially given developments in the
ruling party.
He said: “Again with the fraudulent party primary
conducted within the ruling party and the desperation with use of money
and intimidation of opposition political parties during the ongoing
campaigns clearly shows that the 2019 election is a huge concern.
“This
is even as the US Congress issued a resolution expressing their concern
about the 2019 election because from all indications there is a
credible allegation that 2019 will be rigged in favour of the ruling
party. Therefore for me what Obasanjo and well-meaning Nigerians are
talking should be taken seriously by INEC and government because if this
election is rigged, it will be a setback for democracy in Nigeria.”
Deputy
Senate Minority leader, Senator Emmanuel Bwacha, also concurred saying
Dr. Obasanjo’s assertion should be taken seriously.
“Very weighty
allegations that need to be taken seriously given the impunity
demonstrated by the ruling party all over the place and not coming from
an ordinary mortal, but from a former President, both military and civil
rule.”
Also responding, the Deputy Minority leader, Senator
Emmanuel Bwacha said, “ it is because the battle is between the two of
them.”
Source:- Vanguardngr
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