Mixed reactions greet Obasanjo’s letter to Buhari, as eminent citizens warn Tinubu against playing the Ribadu game with Buhari

*We are studying the statement – APC

*When you see Fayose, PDP, other mushroom parties backing Obasanjo, know there is fear in the camp of opposition – Eminent Citizens

…Obasanjo lacks moral justification to advice Buhari  – APGA

One of them said, “When you see political parties for instance like already drowned PDP and those mushroom parties called the newly registered political parties jubilating over a mere letter by a man who is has since been predicted as never seeing anything good in anybody in power other than himself, it then calls to mind the extent to which the fear of the popularity of President Muhammadu Buhari has become the beginning of wisdom in the buildup to 2019 just like it was in 2015 when before Buhari became Presidential Candidate of APC, PDP had started catching cold until it eventually went sick when he now became the candidate,” he said.

The bombshell dropped on President Muhammadu Buhari by former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Tuesday elicited mixed reactions from players in the political setting.

The ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, which was taken to the cleaners by the ex-President alongside the President, is still in shock as the party begged to be given some time to study the letter and respond appropriately.

The former President outrightly said that the current administration of President Buhari and his party, the APC, had failed woefully in the business of governance.

When asked to react to the memo, the APC National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, simply said: “The APC has asked to be given the opportunity to study the statement. We shall respond appropriately afterwards.”

However, the former President was applauded by one of the registered political party, Action Democratic Party (ADP).

The party in a reaction by its National Secretary James Okoroma, said Obasanjo was right entirely in the said letter as he has set a new stage for Nigeria’s development.

“Obasanjo has set the stage for a new Nigeria. The damage caused by the Buhari Government is enormous and we must endeavour to rebuild our country. The former President made it clear in his statement that the Buhari government is a monumental failure.

“According to Obasanjo, Buhari cannot be credited with any achievement in any sector: Security, education, economy, national cohesion and infrastructural development. Never have we been as divided as we are today.

“Obasanjo’s description of Buhari as clannish and nepotistic is apt and appropriate. Buhari’s lopsided appointments in favour of his Fulani kinsmen, makes him unworthy of leading other Nigerians.

“Buhari remains a disappointment to the nation. His lack of capacity, vindictiveness, narrow mindedness and shallow understanding of global politics, make him a bad choice for the future of Nigeria.

While describing the Owu-born politician as a ‘political deity’, Okoroma added that the ex-President has spoken and that Nigerians will listen to him.

“He has thrown the challenge to all Nigerians. He has even volunteered to be part of a coalition for a new Nigeria. This government is evil and must give way. In fact, the day I saw the stomach of a pregnant woman ripped open by Fulani Herdsmen in Benue, was the day I knew that God had terminated Buhari’s government spiritually. The physical termination of the life of this government has begun with the new activism championed by Obasanjo.”

However, the leadership of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) has condemned the former President for his vituperation on President Muhammadu Buhari.

In his response, the National Chairman of APGA Dr. Victor Oye, said the former President was not in best position to advise President Buhari.

He noted that the position canvassed by Obasanjo against Buhari was purely his own idea and not that of Nigerians, as he assured that Nigerians have a different opinion about Buhari, far from what Obasanjo thinks.

“That is Obasanjo’s opinion and Nigerians opinions differ. People might have different opinion. What we need now in Nigeria is for us to remove unnecessary tension, even if Buhari is not going to run in 2019 we shouldn’t create unnecessary tension because the man himself knows what to do and he doesn’t need Obasanjo’s letter to take such
decision.

“It is Buhari’s entitlement to run for second term but if he is saying he cannot, he knows what to do.

“When Obasanjo was President what did he do? Was he a wonderful leader? Did he tar the roads in South-East; Enugu to Port Harcourt Road? He didn’t do it; Okigwe to Oga he didn’t do it, and so on, and he busy talking about nepotism. Obasanjo does not have moral
justification to say such a thing,” Oye stated.

But the National Chairman of United Progressives Congress, UPP, Chekwas Okorie, in his reaction described the special letter as timely.

He noted that the Buhari administration has done enormous danger to the unity of the country than any administration before it.

He said: “The fact remains that Buhari is non-performing, nepotistic, sectional and very clueless.

“He has put Nigeria in more danger than any president before him. He doesn’t behave like one who fought during the Civil War. Nigeria is more divisive under Buhari,” he said.

Okorie however declared that the ruling party should be encouraged to field Buhari as its presidential candidate to make the defeat of the party very easy.

“He should be allowed to run. In fact, I am praying that APC should present him in 2019 to make its defeat easy. His not running will make it difficult to defeat APC.”

Also reacting to the special letter, the Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN)’s National Chairman Alhaji Galadima said: “the advice of President Olusegun Obasanjo to President Mohammad Buhari not to contest in 2019 is apt and sincere.

“President Obasanjo is a former Nigerian president known for his truth and bluntness. He is different from other partisan Nigerian leaders who engages in macabre dance of shame and insincerity. He says his own not minding whose ox is gored.

“He is a patriotic and a detribalised Nigeria and the advice given should be taken in good faith. Whether anybody likes it or not, the health of President Mohammad Buhari is an issue in 2019. The question is this, is he fit enough to be President again in 2019? If I am a
family of the President, I will advise him to retire on the ground of his deteriorating health so as to face his health challenge and be useful to his immediate family.

“Due to his Ill-health, President Buhari has been unable to grapple with the challenges of leadership. People have taken the advantage of his health condition to commit political brigandage that has rubbish his reputation while the President couldn’t take action.

“There is so much corruption, insecurity and lack of sincerity on the part of people working with the President. The President should shun the clarion call of political jobbers and sycophants parading the Presidency urging him to contest. Those people does not mean well for him.”

In the meantime, some eminent citizens, who, because of connection with most of the high profile personalities in controversies lately, sought strict anonymity, have described as laughable the kind of agitations that have pervaded the political lining of those political parties who are jumping up over the what one of them described as “the so-called letter from Obasanjo”.

They said it should interest any sane citizen to probe what exactly is the issue when people like Ekiti State governor Ayodele Fayose and PDP people suddenly come together to agree with Obasanjo on a matter, adding that, “It must either be that the matter is about how to destroy something or a common enemy is amidst, which is what has happened.”

One of them said, “When you see political parties for instance like already drowned PDP and those mushroom parties called the newly registered political parties jubilating over a mere letter by a man who is has since been predicted as never seeing anything good in anybody in power other than himself, it then calls to mind the extent to which the fear of the popularity of President Muhammadu Buhari has become the beginning of wisdom in the buildup to 2019 just like it was in 2015 when before Buhari became Presidential Candidate of APC, PDP had started catching cold until it eventually went sick when he now became the candidate,” he said.

He continued, “As for me, I can only candidly advise Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his joker playing Yoruba political followers including Baba Bisi Akande to tread softly because the ground at this time till after the 2019 election is slippery.  Tinubu should know that the record of his ability to play card even to have a dinner with the devil is available with President Buhari and every other serious politician in APC and outside the governing party as 2019 struggle that even the same Tinubu, Atiku as APC leaders then and all the corrupt PDP leaders started on May 30, 2015 now thickens.  He should not think that we have forgotten how he pushed Ribadu to a slop and removed shock from his legs.  If he thinks he is the one they can use to put Buhari at a slop only to give him a last shocker, he should know that he cannot be more a politician now than many of those who are ready to retain Buhari as President till 2023.

“So, all the 2019 they think they can achieve with agitations for restructuring, artificial fuel scarcity, sabotaged power supply, ‘herdsmen imbroglio, and insistence on continuing in corrupt practices, intelligence reports have always exposed them and so they have all failed from the word go,” he warned Tinubu not to put Yoruba race in tight corner in the next dispensation.