Why Obasanjo Cannot Stop Me From Supporting Jonathan, PDP – Kashamu

The Chairman of the Organisation and Mobilisation Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party in the South West and sole financier of PDP in Ogun State, Prince Buruji Kashamu on Sunday vowed that no amount of criticism or attack on his person by former President Olusegun Obasanjo will deter him from supporting President Goodluck Jonathan’s re-election in 2015.

Kashamu also said that the recent letters written by Mr. Obasanjo in which he made reference to him had only made him even more popular.

Speaking with newsmen at the end of an emergency meeting of the state chapter of the party held in his Ijebu-Igbo country home, Kashamu accused Obasanjo of alleged plan to “hijack” him from mobilizing the people of the South West zone for Jonathan in the 2015 election.

The former president had written a letter to the National Chairman of PDP, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur and President Jonathan informing them of his decision to withdraw his activities from the party at all levels following the imposition of Kashamu, who he described as a wanted fugitive abroad, as the leader of the party in the Southwest.

But according to the man at the eye of the storm, “You ought to know the strategy of Obasanjo that he [Obasanjo] wanted to hijack me from Jonathan, that if I don’t support Jonathan in South West, the South West would be easier for them. How many times has he called me? How many times Obasanjo has sent people to me that why am I so stubborn? Many that he had sent, I did not answer them because I am not a betrayer.

“When I love somebody and believe in the leadership of somebody, whatever happens I accept that I will go with the person. I believe in the leadership of Jonathan, I believe in the government of Jonathan and in his transformation agenda and I believe in his wise management”.

He further stressed that no one could stop him from his continued support for the president’s reelection bid in 2015.

“It’s only Jonathan that can open his mouth and say don’t support me again. What I’m doing is for the party, for Jonathan and the country. Jonathan is a good president, he is loyal to Nigeria, he’s a complete gentleman, transparent and a believer in due process. We are ready to go the extra mile in delivering the South West to him.

“You know when it comes to mobilizing the people, I’m a grassroots person. I’ve already opened offices all over the South West. In Ogun State over two million registered in the last election but only 400,000 voted. In each state, I have registered in my data over 20,000 supporters. Tell me which grassroots does Obasanjo have? The last election we did, they beat him flat. I have 80 per cent of PDP leaders in Ogun”, Kashamu said.

The Ogun PDP chieftain, however, said that he was unperturbed by Obasanjo’s continued attack, saying rather than rubbish his personality as envisaged by the former president, it has rather made him more popular.

“When I heard yesterday (Saturday) about Obasanjo’s latest letter, I started dancing that my popularity has gone up again. I never knew I could become this popular until Obasanjo started his series of letters. Obasanjo would mention my name in his letters and the president too in his reply”, he said.

Kashamu also vowed to continue to oppose Obasanjo’s alleged penchant for imposing his loyalists on party members in the South West zone.

“The same strategies we have been using in Ogun we have taken to Osun, Oyo, Lagos and others”, he said.

Accused PDP member vows to sue Obasanjo over letter

Abuja - A Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) member allegedly accused of being a criminal by former President Olusegun Obasanjo in the letter written to President Goodluck Jonathan has vowed
to sue him, Premium Times reports.
Buruji Kashamu, a leader of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Ogun State was referred to as a criminal wanted by U.S.
authorities for drug trafficking and money laundering.
Kashamu said it was wrong of Obasanjo to call him a drug baron knowing quite well he was surrounded by criminals as closest
allies, during his two terms as civilian president of the country.
Read more at Premium Times

The presidency slams ex-president's 'reckless' accusations

Abuja - The presidency on Wednesday hit back at criticism by former president Olusegun Obasanjo, describing his widely
leaked letter accusing Goodluck Jonathan of leadership failures as "indecorous" and "reckless".
Presidential spokesman Reuben Abati said in a statement that Obasanjo's letter to President Jonathan was deliberately
leaked to the media in an effort to "to impugn the integrity of the president".
In the 18-page missive, the former head of state -- who ruled from 1999 to 2007 -- accuses Jonathan of failing to tackle a litany of problems, from corruption to
piracy, kidnapping and oil theft.

He also takes the president to task over party infighting and a crackdown on dissenters.
"I want nothing from you personally
except that you should run the affairs of Nigeria not only to make Nigeria good, but to make Nigeria great for which I have always pleaded with you and I will
always do so. And it is yet to be done for most Nigerians to see," Obasanjo wrote.
He added that he was speaking out
because he felt the country was heading in the wrong direction.
"I could sense a semblance between the situation that we are gradually getting into and the situation we fell into as a
nation during the Abacha era," he said.
Sani Abacha, a dictator in power from 1993 to 1998 when he died, ruled Nigeria with an iron fist, jailing and driving his critics into exile. Abacha's regime jailed
Obasanjo and several others for his
alleged involvement in a failed coup plotin 1995.
Abati said Jonathan would in due time respond to the letter and "the most reckless, baseless, unjustifiable and indecorous charges levied against him and
his administration".

He added that it was "highly unbecoming, mischievous and provocative" that the letter was "deliberately leaked to the
mass media in a deplorable effort to impugn the integrity of the president and denigrate his commitment to giving Nigeria the best possible leadership".

Obasanjo contested and won elections in 1999 and 2003 on the platform of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, now
enmeshed in crisis.
He guided his chosen successor Musa Yar'Adua to an election win in 2007 and still holds huge sway in Nigerian politics.
Yar'Adua died in office and was succeeded by Jonathan.

Clark should retire from politics, not me — Obasanjo

Culledfrom Punch

Former President Olusegun Obsanjo on Saturday replied Ijaw leader, Edwin.Clark’s comment on him, saying his utterances showed it was time for him (Clark) to retire from politics.

Obasanjo’s Chief of Staff, Mr. Victor
Durodola, who responded to comments credited to Clark in a newspaper (not PUNCH) accusing Obasanjo of sowing seeds of discord in the Peoples Democratic Party, and urging him to retire, said it was Clark who needed to retire.
Among other things, Clark had said the former President caused the current crisis.in PDP by instigating Governor Sule Lamido of Jigawa State and Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State to contest the Presidency in 2015.
Durodola told SUNDAY PUNCH that all of Clark’s allegations were baseless since he failed to provide evidence to substantiate
his claims.

He said, “Usually, Baba will not dignify such a comment with a response. If he says somebody is sponsoring Governor Rotimi Amaechi, what evidence has he provided? If you have a son and he is not.in good terms with your friend, will you kill your son so that your friend will know that you are his friend? That is not the way to live life. The best an elder can do is to try and settle quarrels, if there are any. Remember he (Obasanjo) is an elder statesman, a former President.

“Edwin Clark, you can see from all his utterances that he is actually the one who should go and sit down. He should not be involved in politics, he should be a leader.
But if he is involved in politics, that is okay for him. The fact is that there is nothing he is saying now that he has not said before. Baba would not join issues with someone like Edwin Clark; he wouldn’t. He ought to have provided evidence, instead of making general pronouncements.”
Durodola added that Obasanjo believed that democracy meant Amaechi, Lamido or any Nigerian, had the right to contest any office they choose.
He said, “Are Lamido and Amaechi not Nigerians? Are they not eligible? Is Clark himself not eligible? What is wrong with somebody contesting? There is
democracy. There should be no seal.
Whoever wants to contest should be free to contest. Let the primary election determine who should be the candidate of the party. Everybody should be free to contest, including Clark.
He is an elder statesman, he should know that this idea of because somebody is interested in contesting, then he becomes an enemy, is not the way of civilisation. Democracy means freedom for everybody.”
He insisted that contrary to popular
opinion, Obasanjo and President Goodluck Jonathan were in good terms.
“Just to clarify things, Obasanjo is not quarreling with Jonathan. They talk; they interact; they meet; they travel together.
The fact is that he (Obasanjo) likes to express himself, and he believes in democracy,” he said.

Obasanjo’s Civil War Book, Self-Glorification – Ex-Generals

Former Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Alan Akinrinade (retd.), and Brig.-Gen. Godwin Alabi-Isama (retd.), on Thursday faulted former President Olusegun Obasanjo ’s Nigerian Civil
War account. Obasanjo’s story in his war memoirs, My Command, Akinrinade and Alabi-Isama said, was full of “serious and historical errors” and constituted a “self-glorification .”

The former President’s account, the retired military officers added, amounted to denying others, who helped to achieve Nigeria’s victory, the credit they deserved. The civil war took place between 1967 and 1970.

The generals, who participated in the war, spoke in Lagos at the public presentation of Alabi-Isama’s book , Tragedy of Victory: on the spot account of Nigeria-Biafra Civil War in the
Atlantic Theatre.

The author, in his book, claimed that Obasanjo, who was the last Commander of the Third Marine Commando that led the military campaigns against Biafra, did not participate in the real battle even as he committed many strategic blunders.

Alabi-Isama added that Obasanjo, in My Command, claimed glory for the victory even when he was not present to receive the instrument of surrender from Biafra when the war ended in 1970.

Alabi-Isama, who narrated how he faced persecution in the army, said his book was to celebrate others whose contributions during the war Obasanjo and others failed to acknowledge.

He said, “We neglected those who fought the Civil War and we have a glorified brother, who was as at the time Col. Obasanjo. He wrote a book entitled, My Command. In that book, he wrote about himself and every other person was demonised. That is why I have the Part 3 of this book as the expose.”

Commending Alabi-Isama’s work, Akinrinade said the author had “put the record straight”, particularly with documents and photographs.

The 601-page book has 36 maps, 20
documents and 450 photographs, which Arabic Isama reportedly took during the war.

Akinrinade added that My Command failed “to do justice to all the good people who fought
that war.”

The Executive Editor of The NEWS magazine, Mr. Kunle Ajibade, who reviewed the new book, said My Command was unlike Long Walk to Freedom, in which former South African President Nelson Mandela was full of praises for those who fought the anti-apartheid struggle with him.

Ajibade said, “The total lack of this kind of generous spirit in Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo” spurred Alabi-Isama to write The Tragedy of Victory, which “offers a ferocious and damping critique of Obasanjo’s vainglorious claims of
his gallantry.”

Gen. Yakubu Gowon, who was the Head of State during the war, said Obasanjo, “as the Commanding Officer assigned to command the division, “was rightfully positioned to claim victory on behalf of the Commander-in-Chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces.”
Gowon, who was unable to attend the event, stated in his foreword to the book.

According to him, Isama-Alabi’s book has made an “invaluable” contribution to understanding our nation’s history.

A former Minister of Defence, Gen. Theophylline Danjuma (retd.), who chaired the book presentation, denied the allegation that he conspired with Obasanjo to force the author out of the army.

Source: Punch Nigeria