by ‘Jola Sotubo
An 11-page letter being circulated in the media and purported to be from Senator Iyabo Obasanjo to her father, Olusegun Obasanjo has continued to cause controversy around the country.
The letter was said to have been exclusively obtained by Vanguard and the media house is apparently sticking to their side of the story.
However, other reports have emerged claiming that Senator Obasanjo has denied writing the letter. Another report claims that members of the Obasanjo family have stated that Mrs. Obasanjo-Bello could not have had anything to do with the letter.
Premium Times reports:
Spokespersons and family members of ex-President Obasanjo allege presidency officials forged the letter as a way of getting back at Mr. Obasanjo over his acerbic letter to President Jonathan.
In multiple interviews early Wednesday, close family members of Mr. Obasanjo, who claimed to have spoken to the former President about the matter, and two of his close aides called the letter a forgery and vowed Ms. Iyabo-Bello would not write to her father that way. One family member said Mr. Obasanjo spoke with Iyabo only two days back and apparently both related as cordial as always.
“I can tell you that such letter never existed. I can tell you authoritatively that it only existed in the imagination of those who forged and published it. It the height of desperation by those who masterminded it,” Tunde Oladunjoye, an aide to Mr. Obasanjo, told PREMIUM TIMES.
Mr. Oladunjoye said he could confirm that Mr. Obasanjo had not received any such letter from his daughter.
One senior family member, refusing to be named for security reasons, said with all of Mr. Obasanjo’s faults, he knows his children and their likely behaviour, and that the letter does not fit into any of their behavioural pattern.
A former aide to Mr. Obasanjo and former aviation minister, Femi Fani-Kayode, said based on his knowledge of the two individuals, it was impossible for Ms. Obasanjo to have sent her father such mail.
“I can tell you the so-called letter was forged by those in government,” Mr. Fani-Kayode said. “They think they can get at Baba that way. But they are mistaken. One thing is that if they want to fight Baba, they should face him and leave his family out of it. Baba has spoken the truth and they should respond to the issues he raised.
Popular Television station, Africa Independent Television (AIT) also reported a denial:
IYABO OBASANJO DENIES WRITING ILL-WORDED LETTER TO HER FATHER
The letter which was highly personal in nature criticized the former military Head of state as a father, a man, a leader and a statesman. That did not, however, mark the end of the surprise.
The nation was still trying to grasp the purpose of the letter which outrightly stated that the letter had no political undertones when the former Senator and PhD Holder announced that she had nothing to do with the letter nor had she written or sent the letter to anyone or organization. She was said to have made this denial in a call to a radio station.
The TV station also tweeted:
#IyaboOBJ has denied writing the widely circulated letter insulting her father. The question now is who wrote the letter…
— AIT Television (@AIT_TV) December 18, 2013
What could be the motive behind anyone attributing such a letter to #IyaboOBJ?
— AIT Television (@AIT_TV) December 18, 2013
This back and forth has resulted in a confusing scenario with the most important question now being who wrote the letter?
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