Fayose to Obasanjo: Leave Jonathan alone

Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti state wants former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, to stop criticising Goodluck Jonathan, the immediate past president, saying the Niger-Delta man should be left alone to enjoy his private life.

While branding Obasanjo’s performance in office inferior to Jonathan’s, Fayose criticised ex-PDP leader for attacking Jonathan at the recent convocation ceremony of the Benson Idahosa University (BIU), Edo state, saying: “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.”

Obasanjo had alleged that Jonathan misused the opportunity that the south-south had in producing the president of the country, adding that the consequence of such would affect the region for a long time.

“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,” read a statement issued on Fayose’s behalf by Lere Olayinka, his special assistant on new media and public communication.

“Most importantly, Jonathan’s performance as a democrat has been widely acknowledged locally and internationally, particularly by President Muhammadu 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.

“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. 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.”

Fayose added that Obasanjo lacked the moral right to accuse anyone of corruption, reminding him that he had not cleared himself of the allegations against him in the Halliburton scam.

“People living in glass houses should avoid throwing stones. 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,” he said.