Abuja has reacted to former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s critical new year message and described him as a man who is jealous of President Muhammadu Buhari.
A statement released on Monday and signed by presidential spokesman, Garba Shehu, accused Obasanjo of being envious of “anyone who beats him to a new record in the nation’s development process.”
“President Buhari is ahead of Chief Obasanjo in all fields of national development and 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,” Garba Shehu wrote.
The statement from the presidency was triggered by Obasanjo writing, in his new year message, that many Nigerians have moved from “frying pan to fire and from mountain top to the valley” under Buhari’s seven-plus-year regime.
The former president also took a veiled swipe at the current occupier of Aso Rock Villa when he pointed out that Nigeria needs a president dynamic enough to speak to the citizens regularly rather than being fed with “The President says.”
In its reaction, the presidency accused Obasanjo of failing to build the Second Niger Bridge that President Buhari has now built.
It also blamed Obasanjo for underselling national assets when he was president.
“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 $130 million,” Garba Shehu wrote.
“Delta Steel, which was set up in 2005 at a cost of $1.5 billion was sold to Global Infrastructure for just $30 million.
“ALSCON got back $120 million for the dredging of the Imo River, which was never carried out.”
It went further to accuse the former president of impunity and unjustly removing Governors Joshua Dariye, Rashidi Ladoja, Peter Obi, Chris Ngige, and Ayo Fayose from office.
“Under him, a five-man legislature met at 6:00 am and “impeached” Governor Dariye in Plateau; 18 members out of 32 removed Governor Ladoja of Oyo from office; in Anambra, APGA’s Governor Obi was equally impeached at 5:00 a.m. by members who did not meet the two-thirds required by the constitution,” the presidency’s reaction continued.
“Under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the lawmaking powers of the Rivers State legislature were transferred to the federal parliament to punish Governor Amaechi for shifting his political alliance.
“Moreover, Obasanjo damned the Supreme Court and unlawfully held back Lagos State revenues due from federal sources on account of his pettiness against Governor Bola Tinubu.”
In contrast, the presidency hailed President Buhari for being a champion of democracy, praised by US President Joe Biden and awarded by the leaders of African states.
It stated that these are “clearly” the reasons Obasanjo has become “even more jealous.”
