THE presidency on Monday hit back at former presid- ent, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, for referring to the seven and a half years of the present administration as hell on earth, saying that he is frustrated and as well jealous of President Muhammadu Buhari for surpassing his record of achievements in office.
Obasanjo had, in his New Year message where he en- dorsed the presidential can- didate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, said: “The last seven and a half years have no doubt been event- ful and stressful years for many Nigerians.
“We have moved from frying pan to fire and from mountain top to the valley. Our leaders have done their best, but their best had turned out to be not the best for Nigeria and Nigerians at home and abroad. For most Nigerians, it was hell on earth.
Reacting through a state- ment issued by Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant to the President (Media and Publicity), the presidency said Obasanjo would not stop attacking President Buhari because the present government beats him to a new record in the nation’s development process.
The statement alleged that Obasanjo lied to the people of the the South- East while seeking reelection to get their votes, noting that Buhari got no votes from the region, yet built for them the second Niger bridge.
The statement read: “President Buhari is ahead of Chief Obasanjo in all fields of national devel- opment and to do that is 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.
“President Buhari just completed the world class edifice, that is the Second Niger Bridge, after three decades of failed promises. It is now awaiting commis- sioning.
“Obasanjo laid the sod for the bridge in his first term as elected president and work never started. When he sought re-election for his second term in office, he returned to the site to turn the sod the second time.
“When the Obi of Onit- sha, forthright and scholarly, reminded him that he had done this in the past, Obasanjo told the foremost south-east traditional ruler that he was a liar, in the full presence of the chiefs and oracles in his palace.
“Obasanjo lied to the southeast to get their votes. PresidentBuharididn’tget their votes but built the bridge because he believed it is the right thing to do.
“Two, President Buhari had been bagging awards and encomiums for trying to do that which the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria says a leader should do: serve one, or a maximum of two terms and go.
“President Buhari has been stating and restating that he will supervise a better election than the one that brought him to office and to leave as and when due.
“Having tried tenure elongation and failed, Obasanjo’s fictitious mind must be telling him that he is the one under attack. But he is not on President Buhari’s radar because experience has shown, especially lately in West Africa where there have been at least three successful coups and many other failed attempts, that third term or tenure elongation is a recipe for political instability.
“Furthermore, the total- ity of African leaders ap- pointed President Buhari the anti-corruption cham- pion of the continent. You can’t be an anti-corruption champion if ‘you meddled andbenttherules,’carrying the putrid responsibility of what happened to national assets in the name of privat- isation as documented by the Nigerian Senate in 2011.
“As an insight, the Alu- minum 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. 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.
“Three, which is linked to the one above is the growing profile of President Buhari as the champion of democracy not only at home and in the West African subregion but the African continent as whole.
“As president, Obasanjo destabilised internal demo- cracy by orchestrating im- peachment after impeachment of governors who were not compliant with his highly imperial administra- tion.
“As we said sometime back, Obasanjo’s tenure, 1999 to 2007, represented the dark days of Nigeria’s democracy due to a slew of assaults on the constitution.
“The former president deployed federal machinery to remove governors Joshua Dariye, Rashidi Ladoja, Peter Obi, Chris Ngige and Ayo Fayose from office. They were the then gov- ernors of Plateau, Oyo, Anambra, Anambra and Ekiti, respectively, unjustly removed using the police and secret service under his control.
“Under him, a five-man legislature met at 6:00 a.m. and ‘impeached’ Governor Dariye in Plateau; 18 mem- bers 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.
“Lawmaking powers of the Rivers State legislature were transferred to the fed- eral parliament to punish Governor Amaechi [then speaker of the assembly] for shifting his political alliance.
“Moreover, he damned the Supreme Court and unlawfully held back Lagos State revenues due from federal sources on account of his pettiness against Gov- ernor Bola Tinubu.
“On the other hand, in Washington, DC a few weeks ago, the US Presid- ent Joe Biden at a meeting with African heads of states and government described President Buhari as a champion of democracy and role model for the leaders of African states.
“Clearly, Obasanjo has become even more jealous by adopting a vengeful attitude.
“Four, to say that ‘frying pan to fire’ is the situation in Nigeria at this time should be read to mean a personal experience to him and we know what that means.
“‘Hell’ for Obasanjo is when a president, any pres- ident that comes after him refuses to be his own pup- pet, to do as he wishes on all matters and at all times. He then keeps attacking out of frustration.
“Obasanjo’s vengeful attitude towards Presid- ent Buhari is the height of selfishness and little short of moral squalor.”
