Ekiti State Governor, Mr Ayodele Fayose has urged former President, Chief
Olusegun Obasanjo to stop attacking the immediate past President, Dr
Goodluck Jonathan, saying; “Dr Goodluck Jonathan is no longer the
president of Nigeria, he should be allowed to live a private life devoid
of mudslinging from elder statesmen like Chief Obasanjo.”
Governor Fayose said he was miffed that former President Obasanjo could
choose the 11th Convocation Lecture of Benson Idahosa University (BIU)
Benin, Edo State to say that “performance of Jonathan while in office will
hunt the people of the South-South region for a long time to come.”
In a statement issued in Ado-Ekiti on Monday by his Special Assistant on
Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, the governor said the
people of the South South had already demonstrated their approval of
Jonathan’s performance while in office by voting overwhelmingly for him on
March 28 despite the gang-up orchestrated by Chief Obasanjo and his
allies.
“Most importantly, Jonathan’s performance as a democrat has been widely
acknowledged locally and internationally, particularly by President
Mohammadu Buhari, who on many occasions acknowledged the role he
(Jonathan) played in midwifing a peaceful and successful transition
programme, thereby averting the feared crisis in the country.
“This is in contrast to Baba Obasanjo, who tried third term when he was
about concluding his constitutional two terms. And who knows whether he
would have tried fourth term if he had succeeded with his third term
agenda?
“The reality is, assuming but not conceding that Jonathan performed below
expectation, democratic governance that he established in Nigeria is more
important than any other performance that Obasanjo alluded to,” the
governor said.
Speaking further, Governor Fayose urged Obasanjo to stop running other
Nigerians down, saying; “We are all stakeholders in the country Nigeria.
It is wrong for any Nigerian no matter how highly placed to go about
carrying himself around as the only honest and lover of the country.”
The governor said; “since Baba Obasanjo has openly destroyed his Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP) membership card, he is free to go about seeking
relevance in the All Progressives Congress (APC) without running anyone
down.”
He said people living in glass houses should avoid throwing stones, adding
that Nigerians know those involved in the Halliburton scandal and people
who are yet to be cleared of their alleged complicity in a scam like
Halliburton lacked moral rights to brand other people as corrupt.