Afenifere Renaissance Youth Congress (ARYG) has said that it is better for
the former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, to formally declare for the
opposition party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), instead of working
to damage the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from within.
The group, which comprises many members of the PDP in the South-west zone,
also said that Obasanjo’s pastime of publicly attacking President Goodluck
Jonathan when, as a former president, he has unfettered access to the
Presidential Villa, was unstatesmanlike.
Speaking against the backdrop of the recent attacks by Obasanjo on
President Jonathan, on behalf of the Yoruba youth group, the group leader,
Mr Abimbola Owolabi, stated that it is difficult to believe that Obasanjo
is still a member of the PDP.
The group wondered why Obasanjo cannot respect the provisions of the
Constitution of the party, especially the section that frowns at bringing
the name and image of the Party to disrepute.
According to the group, “Obasanjo is not only denigrating the presidency,
the person of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan and the ruling Party, which he claims
to be a member of by his constant lies, unwarranted attacks and
mischievous blackmail to portray President Jonathan as weak, corrupt and
dictatorial but also manifestly executing the propaganda of the APC whose
members he now hobnobs with.
“These days, there is a complete sync between Obasanjo’s utterances and
those of Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the APC spokesperson.
“After listening to General Obasanjo’s lies that President Jonathan is
running a corrupt government and incapable of dealing with the insurgency
problems in the North, at the launch of the auto-biography of Retired
Justice Mustapha Akanbi, we have come to the conclusion that the former
president does not mean well for this country and the PDP.
“How can Obasanjo who elevated the bribing of National Assembly members,
especially during his ill-fated Third Term agenda, to a state policy
during his regime point finger of guilt at President Jonathan? Or does
Obasanjo think that Nigerians have such a short memory as to forget how he
nearly emptied the national treasury to the lawmakers in his desperate
quest for an unconstitutional third term in office?
“The same man (Obasanjo) who is now accusing Jonathan of working against
democracy has been the worst enemy of democracy in the country.
“He deployed troops to Odi and leveled an entire village without achieving
any meaningful results over the Niger Delta militancy only to leave the
mess for the late President Umaru Yar’Adua and Jonathan (who was then the
vice president) to clear.
“It was Obasanjo’s recklessness and complete disrespect for the rule of
law that prompted his successor to quickly adopt rule of law as the mantra
of his administration.”
The group further said that it was at a loss as to why an elder statesman
like former President Obasanjo will be peddling lies as facts just to
damage politically, President Jonathan and his party, the PDP.
“When Obasanjo points to the collapse of education and infrastructure in
the Northeast as responsible for breeding insurgency, he conveniently
forgets that he ruled this country for a combined period of eleven years
as military head of state and civilian president.
“What that means is that instead of President Jonathan who is committing
funds to Almajiri education, Obasanjo should be held complicit for the
underdevelopment of the North,” the group stated.
The group therefore called on Obasanjo to move out of the PDP and pitch
his tent with the APC now that he has donned the garb of an opposition
element.
According to the group, “Obasanjo is a war General; he should be bold
enough to show to Nigerians his APC membership card. He is too old for
this chicanery and the hide-and-seek game he is playing within the PDP.”
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