by Kolapo Olapoju

A group under the umbrella of Afenifere Renaissance Youth Congress has chastised former President Olusegun Obasanjo over his recent series of criticism of President Goodluck Jonathan.

The group also accused the former president of carrying out the agenda of the opposition party, All Progressives Congress (APC) with his recent comments about the presidency and the present administration.

Speaking on behalf of the Yoruba youth group, the leader, Mr Abimbola Owolabi stated that it was hard to believe that Obasanjo still belongs to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), while imploring him to be bold enough to formally dump the PDP for the APC.

The group also alleged that the former Head of State was actively working to destroy the PDP from within, adding that being a war General should give him the confidence to clarify his position.

Owolabi said: “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. 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.”

The group also accused Obasanjo of bribing Nigeria’s lawmakers during his alleged push for a third term in office, while stating that “he(Obasanjo) has been the worst enemy of democracy”.

“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 added.

Speaking further, the group blamed Obasanjo for being responsible for the underdevelopment of the north region of the country.

“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.”

Kolapo Olapoju