President Jonathan has finally replied former president
Obasanjo's 18-page letter where he accused Jonathan of
taking actions calculated at destroying Nigeria. President
Jonathan's reply below...
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. Continue...
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
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