President Jonathan finally replies Obasanjo's letter

President Jonathan
finally replies Obasanjo's letter
President Jonathan has finally replied former
president Obasanjo's 18-page letter where he
accused Jonathan of taking actions calculated at
destroying Nigeria. President Jonathan's reply
below...
His Excellency,
Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, GCFR
Agbe L’Oba House, Quarry Road,
Ibara, Abeokuta.
RE: Before It Is Too Late
I wish to formally acknowledge your letter dated
December 2, 2013 and other previous
correspondence similar to it.
You will recall that all the letters were brought to
me by hand. Although both of us discussed some
of the issues in those letters, I had not, before
now, seen the need for any formal reply since, to
me, they contained advice from a former President
to a serving President. Obviously, you felt
differently because in your last letter, you
complained about my not acknowledging or
replying your previous letters. Continue...
It is with the greatest possible reluctance that I
now write this reply. I am most uneasy about
embarking on this unprecedented and
unconventional form of open communication
between me and a former leader of our country
because I know that there are more acceptable
and dignified means of doing so.
But I feel obliged to reply your letter for a number
of reasons: one, you formally requested for a reply
and not sending you one will be interpreted as
ignoring a former President.
Secondly, Nigerians know the role you have
played in my political life and given the unfortunate
tone of your letter, clearly, the grapes have gone
sour. Therefore, my side of the story also needs
to be told.
The third reason why I must reply you in writing is
that your letter is clearly a threat to national
security as it may deliberately or inadvertently set
the stage for subversion.
The fourth reason for this reply is that you raised
very weighty issues, and since the letter has been
made public, Nigerians are expressing legitimate
concerns. A response from me therefore,
becomes very necessary.
The fifth reason is that this letter may appear in
biographies and other books which political
commentators on Nigeria’s contemporary politics
may write. It is only proper for such publications to
include my comments on the issues raised in your
letter.
Sixthly, you are very unique in terms of the
governance of this country. You were a military
Head of State for three years and eight months,
and an elected President for eight years. That
means you have been the Head of Government of
Nigeria for about twelve years. This must have,
presumably, exposed you to a lot of information.
Thus when you make a statement, there is the
tendency for people to take it seriously.
The seventh reason is that the timing of your letter
coincided with other vicious releases. The Speaker
of the House of Representatives spoke of my
“body language ” encouraging corruption. A letter
written to me by the CBN Governor alleging that
NNPC, within a period of 19 months did not remit
the sum of USD49.8 billion to the federation
account, was also deliberately leaked to the
public.
The eighth reason is that it appears that your letter
was designed to incite Nigerians from other
geopolitical zones against me and also calculated
to promote ethnic disharmony. Worse still, your
letter was designed to instigate members of our
Party, the PDP, against me.
The ninth reason is that your letter conveys to me
the feeling that landmines have been laid for me.
Therefore, Nigerians need to have my response to
the issues raised before the mines explode.
The tenth and final reason why my reply is
inevitable is that you have written similar letters
and made public comments in reference to all
former Presidents and Heads of Government
starting from Alhaji Shehu Shagari and these have
instigated different actions and reactions. The
purpose and direction of your letter is distinctly
ominous, and before it is too late, my clarifications
on the issues need to be placed on record.
Let me now comment on the issues you raised. In
commenting I wish to crave your indulgence to
compare what is happening now to what took
place before. This, I believe, will enable Nigerians
see things in better perspective because we must
know where we are coming from so as to
appreciate where we now are, and to allow us
clearly map out where we are going.
You raised concerns about the security situation in
the country. I assure you that I am fully aware of
the responsibility of government for ensuring the
security of the lives and property of citizens. My
Administration is working assiduously to overcome
current national security challenges, the seeds of
which were sown under previous administrations.
There have been some setbacks; but certainly
there have also been great successes in our
efforts to overcome terrorism and insurgency.
Those who continue to down-play our successes
in this regard, amongst whom you must now be
numbered, appear to have conveniently forgotten
the depths to which security in our country had
plunged before now.
At a stage, almost the entire North-East of Nigeria
was under siege by insurgents. Bombings of
churches and public buildings in the North and the
federal capital became an almost weekly
occurrence. Our entire national security apparatus
seemed nonplussed and unable to come to grips
with the new threat posed by the berthing of
terrorism on our shores.
But my administration has since brought that very
unacceptable situation under significant control.
We have overhauled our entire national security
architecture, improved intelligence gathering,
training, funding, logistical support to our armed
forces and security agencies, and security
collaboration with friendly countries with very
visible and positive results.
The scope and impact of terrorist operations have
been significantly reduced and efforts are
underway to restore full normalcy to the most
affected North Eastern region and initiate a post-
crisis development agenda, including a special
intervention programme to boost the region’s
socio-economic progress.
In doing all this, we have kept our doors open for
dialogue with the insurgents and their supporters
through efforts such as the work of the
Presidential Committee on Dialogue and the
Peaceful Resolution of the Security Challenges in
the North-East. You also know that the Governor
of Borno State provided the items you mentioned
to me as carrots. Having done all this and more, it
is interesting that you still accuse me of not acting
on your hardly original recommendation that the
carrot and stick option be deployed to solve the
Boko Haram problem.
Your suggestion that we are pursuing a “war
against violence without understanding the root
causes of the violence and applying solutions to
deal with all the underlying factors” is definitely
misplaced because from the onset of this
administration, we have been implementing a
multifaceted strategy against militancy,
insurgency and terrorism that includes poverty
alleviation, economic development, education and
social reforms.
Even though basic education is the constitutional
responsibility of States, my administration has, as
part of its efforts to address ignorance and poor
education which have been identified as two of the
factors responsible for making some of our youth
easily available for use as cannon fodder by
insurgents and terrorists, committed huge funds to
the provision of modern basic education schools
for the Almajiri in several Northern States. The
Federal Government under my leadership has also
set up nine additional universities in the Northern
States and three in the Southern States in keeping
with my belief that proper education is the surest
way of emancipating and empowering our people.
More uncharitable persons may even see a touch
of sanctimoniousness in your new belief in the
carrot and stick approach to overcoming militancy
and insurgency. You have always referred to how
you hit Odi in Bayelsa State to curb militancy in
the Niger Delta. If the invasion of Odi by the Army
was the stick, I did not see the corresponding
carrot. I was the Deputy Governor of Bayelsa
State then, and as I have always told you, the
invasion of Odi did not solve any militancy problem
but, to some extent, escalated it. If it had solved it,
late President Yar’Adua would not have had to
come up with the amnesty program. And while
some elements of the problem may still be there,
in general, the situation is reasonably better.
In terms of general insecurity in the country and
particularly the crisis in the Niger Delta, 2007 was
one of the worst periods in our history. You will
recall three incidents that happened in 2007 which
seemed to have been orchestrated to achieve
sinister objectives. Here in Abuja, a petrol tanker
loaded with explosives was to be rammed into the
INEC building. But luckily for the country, an
electric pole stopped the tanker from hitting the
INEC building. It is clear that this incident was
meant to exploit the general sense of insecurity in
the nation at the time to achieve the aim of
stopping the 2007 elections. It is instructive that
you, on a number of occasions, alluded to this fact.
When that incident failed, an armed group invaded
Yenagoa one evening with the intent to
assassinate me. Luckily for me, they could not.
They again attacked and bombed my country
home on a night when I was expected in the
village. Fortunately, as God would have it, I did not
make the trip.
I recall that immediately after both incidents, I got
calls expressing the concern of Abuja. But Baba,
you know that despite the apparent concern of
Abuja, no single arrest was ever made. I was then
the Governor of Bayelsa State and the PDP Vice-
Presidential candidate. The security people
ordinarily should have unraveled the assassination
attempt on me.
You also raised the issues of kidnapping, piracy
and armed robbery. These are issues all
Nigerians, including me are very concerned about.
While we will continue to do our utmost best to
reduce all forms of criminality to the barest
minimum in our country, it is just as well to remind
you that the first major case of kidnapping for
ransom took place around 2006. And the Boko
Haram crisis dates back to 2002. Goodluck
Jonathan was not the President of the country
then. Also, armed robbery started in this country
immediately after the civil war and since then, it
has been a problem to all succeeding
governments. For a former Head of Government,
who should know better, to present these
problems as if they were creations of the
Jonathan Administration is most uncharitable.
Having said that, let me remind you of some of the
things we have done to curb violent crime in the
country. We have reorganized the Nigerian Police
Force and appointed a more dynamic leadership to
oversee its affairs. We have also improved its
manpower levels as well as funding, training and
logistical support.
We have also increased the surveillance
capabilities of the Police and provided its air-wing
with thrice the number of helicopters it had before
the inception of the present administration. The
National Civil Defence and Security Corps has
been armed to make it a much more effective ally
of the police and other security agencies in the
war against violent crime. At both domestic and
international levels, we are doing everything
possible to curb the proliferation of the small arms
and light weapons with which armed robberies,
kidnappings and piracy are perpetrated. We have
also enhanced security at our borders to curb
cross-border crimes.
We are aggressively addressing the challenge of
crude oil theft in collaboration with the state
Governors. In addition, the Federal Government
has engaged the British and US governments for
their support in the tracking of the proceeds from
the purchase of stolen crude. Similarly, a regional
Gulf of Guinea security strategy has been initiated
to curb crude oil theft and piracy.
Perhaps the most invidious accusation in your
letter is the allegation that I have placed over one
thousand Nigerians on a political watch list, and
that I am training snipers and other militia to
assassinate people. Baba, I don’t know where you
got that from but you do me grave injustice in not
only lending credence to such baseless rumours,
but also publicizing it. You mentioned God
seventeen times in your letter. Can you as a
Christian hold the Bible and say that you truly
believe this allegation?
The allegation of training snipers to assassinate
political opponents is particularly
incomprehensible to me. Since I started my
political career as a Deputy Governor, I have
never been associated with any form of political
violence. I have been a President for over three
years now, with a lot of challenges and opposition
mainly from the high and mighty. There have
certainly been cases of political assassination
since the advent of our Fourth Republic, but as you
well know, none of them occurred under my
leadership.
Regarding the over one thousand people you say
are on a political watch list, I urge you to kindly tell
Nigerians who they are and what agencies of
government are “watching” them. Your allegation
that I am using security operatives to harass
people is also baseless. Nigerians are waiting for
your evidence of proof. That was an accusation
made against previous administrations, including
yours, but it is certainly not my style and will
never be. Again, if you insist on the spurious claim
that some of your relatives and friends are being
harassed, I urge you to name them and tell
Nigerians what agencies of my administration are
harassing them.
I also find it difficult to believe that you will accuse
me of assisting murderers, or assigning a
presidential delegation to welcome a murderer.
This is a most unconscionable and untrue
allegation. It is incumbent on me to remind you
that I am fully conscious of the dictates of my
responsibilities to God and our dear nation. It is
my hope that devious elements will not take
advantage of your baseless allegation to engage in
brazen and wanton assassination of high profile
politicians as before, hiding under the alibi your
“open letter ” has provided for them.
Nevertheless, I have directed the security
agencies and requested the National Human
Rights Commission to carry out a thorough
investigation of these criminal allegations and
make their findings public.
That corruption is an issue in Nigeria is
indisputable. It has been with us for many years.
You will recall that your kinsman, the renowned
afro-beat maestro, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti famously
sang about it during your first stint as Head of
State. Sonny Okosun also sang about corruption.
And as you may recall, a number of Army
Generals were to be retired because of corruption
before the Dimka coup. Also, the late General
Murtala Mohammed himself wanted to retire some
top people in his cabinet on corruption-related
issues before he was assassinated. Even in this
Fourth Republic, the Siemens and Halliburton
scandals are well known.
The seed of corruption in this country was planted
a long time ago, but we are doing all that we can to
drastically reduce its debilitating effects on
national development and progress. I have been
strengthening the institutions established to fight
corruption. I will not shield any government official
or private individual involved in corruption, but I
must follow due process in all that I do. And
whenever clear cases of corruption or fraud have
been established, my administration has always
taken prompt action in keeping with the dictates of
extant laws and procedures. You cannot claim to
be unaware of the fact that several highly placed
persons in our country, including sons of some of
our party leaders are currently facing trial for their
involvement in the celebrated subsidy scam affair.
I can hardly be blamed if the wheels of justice still
grind very slowly in our country, but we are doing
our best to support and encourage the judiciary to
quicken the pace of adjudication in cases of
corruption.
Baba, I am amazed that with all the knowledge
garnered from your many years at the highest
level of governance in our country, you could still
believe the spurious allegation contained in a letter
written to me by the Governor of the Central Bank
of Nigeria (CBN), and surreptitiously obtained by
you, alleging that USD49.8 billion, a sum equal to
our entire national budget for two years, is
“unaccounted for ” by the NNPC. Since, as
President, you also served for many years as
Minister of Petroleum Resources, you very well
know the workings of the corporation. It is
therefore intriguing that you have made such an
assertion. You made a lot of insinuations about oil
theft, shady dealings at the NNPC and the NNPC
not remitting the full proceeds of oil sales to the of
CBN. Now that the main source of the allegations
which you rehashed has publicly stated that he
was “ misconstrued”, perhaps you will find it in
your heart to apologize for misleading unwary
Nigerians and impugning the integrity of my
administration on that score.
Your claim of “ Atlantic Oil loading about 130, 000
barrels sold by Shell and managed on behalf of
NPDC with no sale proceeds paid into the NPDC
account” is also disjointed and baseless because
no such arrangement as you described exists
between Atlantic Oil and the Nigeria Petroleum
Development Company. NPDC currently produces
about 138, 000 barrels of oil per day from over 7
producing assets. The Crude Oil Marketing Division
(COMD) of the NNPC markets all of this production
on behalf of NPDC with proceeds paid into NPDC
account.
I am really shocked that with all avenues open to
you as a former Head of State for the verification
of any information you have received about state
affairs, you chose to go public with allegations of
“high corruption ” without offering a shred of
supporting evidence. One of your political “sons ”
similarly alleged recently that he told me of a
minister who received a bribe of $250 Million from
an oil company and I did nothing about it. He may
have been playing from a shared script, but we
have not heard from him again since he was
challenged to name the minister involved and
provide the evidence to back his claim. I urge
you, in the same vein, to furnish me with the
names, facts and figures of a single verifiable
case of the “high corruption” which you say stinks
all around my administration and see whether the
corrective action you advocate does not follow
promptly. And while you are at it, you may also
wish to tell Nigerians the true story of questionable
waivers of signature bonuses between 2000 and
2007.
While, by the Grace of God Almighty, I am the first
President from a minority group, I am never
unmindful of the fact that I was elected leader of
the whole of Nigeria and I have always acted in
the best interest of all Nigerians. You referred to
the divisive actions and inflammatory utterances
of some individuals from the South-South and
asserted that I have done nothing to call them to
order or distance myself from their ethnic
chauvinism. Again that is very untrue. I am as
committed to the unity of this country as any
patriot can be and I have publicly declared on
many occasions that no person who threatens
other Nigerians or parts of the country is acting on
my behalf.
It is very regrettable that in your letter, you seem
to place sole responsibility for the ongoing
intrigues and tensions in the PDP at my doorstep,
and going on from that position, you direct all your
appeals for a resolution at me. Baba, let us all be
truthful to ourselves, God and posterity. At the
heart of all the current troubles in our party and
the larger polity is the unbridled jostling and
positioning for personal or group advantage ahead
of the 2015 general elections. The “bitterness,
anger, mistrust, fear and deep suspicion” you
wrote about all flow from this singular factor.
It is indeed very unfortunate that the seeming
crisis in the party was instigated by a few senior
members of the party, including you. But, as leader
of the party, I will continue to do my best to unite it
so that we can move forward with strength and
unity of purpose. The PDP has always recovered
from previous crises with renewed vigour and
vitality. I am very optimistic that that will be the
case again this time. The PDP will overcome any
temporary setback, remain a strong party and
even grow stronger.
Instigating people to cause problems and
disaffection within the party is something that you
are certainly familiar with. You will recall that
founding fathers of the Party were frustrated out of
the Party at a time. Late Chief Sunday Awoniyi
was pushed out, Late Chief Solomon Lar left and
later came back, Chief Audu Ogbeh and Chief Tom
Ikimi also left. Chief Okwesilieze Nwodo left and
later came back. In 2005/2006, link-men were
sent to take over party structures from PDP
Governors in an unveiled attempt to undermine the
state governors. In spite of that, the Governors did
not leave the Party because nobody instigated and
encouraged them to do so.
The charge that I was involved in anti-party
activities in governorship elections in Edo, Ondo,
Lagos, and Anambra States is also very
unfortunate. I relate with all Governors irrespective
of political party affiliation but I have not worked
against the interest of the PDP. What I have not
done is to influence the electoral process to favour
our Party. You were definitely never so inclined,
since you openly boasted in your letter of how you
supported Alhaji Shehu Shagari against Chief
Obafemi Awolowo, Chief Nnamdi Azikiwe and
others in the 1979 presidential elections while
serving as a military Head of State. You and I
clearly differ in this regard, because as the
President of Nigeria, I believe it is my duty and
responsibility to create a level playing field for all
parties and all candidates.
Recalling how the PDP lost in states where we
were very strong in 2003 and 2007 such as Edo,
Ondo, Imo, Bauchi, Anambra, and Borno,
longstanding members of our great party with
good memory will also consider the charge of
anti-party activities you made against me as
misdirected and hugely hypocritical. It certainly
was not Goodluck Jonathan’s “ personal ambition
or selfish interest” that caused the PDP to lose the
governorship of Ogun State and all its senatorial
seats in the last general elections.
You quoted me as saying that I have not told
anybody that I will seek another term in office in
2015. You and your ambitious acolytes within the
party have clearly decided to act on your
conclusion that “ only a fool will believe that
statement” and embark on a virulent campaign to
harass me out of an undeclared candidature for
the 2015 presidential elections so as to pave the
way for a successor anointed by you.
You will recall that you serially advised me that we
should refrain from discussing the 2015 general
elections for now so as not to distract elected
public officials from urgent task of governance.
While you have apparently moved away from that
position, I am still of the considered opinion that it
would have been best for us to do all that is
necessary to refrain from heating up the polity at
this time. Accordingly, I have already informed
Nigerians that I will only speak on whether or not I
will seek a second term when it is time for such
declarations. Your claims about discussions I had
with you, Governor Gabriel Suswam and others
are wrong, but in keeping with my declared
stance, I will reserve further comments until the
appropriate time.
Your allegation that I asked half a dozen African
Presidents to speak to you about my alleged
ambition for 2015, is also untrue. I have never
requested any African President to discuss with
you on my behalf. In our discussion, I mentioned
to you that four Presidents told me that they were
concerned about the political situation in Nigeria
and intended to talk to you about it. So far, only
three of them have confirmed to me that they have
had any discussion with you. If I made such a
request, why would I deny it?
The issue of Buruji Kashamu is one of those lies
that should not be associated with a former
President. The allegation that I am imposing
Kashamu on the South-West is most unfortunate
and regrettable. I do not even impose Party
officials in my home state of Bayelsa and there is
no zone in this country where I have imposed
officials. So why would I do so in the South West?
Baba, in the light of Buruji’s detailed public
response to your “open letter”, it will be charitable
for you to render an apology to Nigerians and I.
On the issue of investors being scared to come to
Nigeria, economic dormancy, and stagnation, I will
just refer you to FDI statistics from 2000 to 2013.
Within the last three years, Nigeria has emerged
as the preferred destination for investments in
Africa, driven by successful government policies to
attract foreign investors. For the second year
running, the United Nations Conference on Trade
and Investments (UNCTAD) has ranked Nigeria as
the number one destination for investments in
Africa, and as having the fourth highest returns in
the world.
Today, Nigeria is holding 18 percent of all foreign
investments in Africa and 60 percent of all foreign
investments in the ECOWAS Sub-Region. Kindly
note also that in the seven years between 2000
and 2007 when you were President, Nigeria
attracted a total of $24.9 Billion in FDI.  As a result
of our efforts which you disparage, the country
has seen an FDI inflow of $25.7 Billion in just three
years which is more than double the FDI that has
gone to the second highest African destination. We
have also maintained an annual national economic
growth rate of close to seven per cent since the
inception of this administration. What then, is the
justification for your allegation of scared investors
and economic dormancy?
Although it was not emphasized in your letter of
December 2, 2013, you also conveyed, in previous
correspondence, the impression that you were
ignorant of the very notable achievements of my
administration in the area of foreign relations. It is
on record that under my leadership, Nigeria has
played a key role in resolving the conflicts in
Niger, Cote d’Ivoire, Mali, Guinea Bissau and
others.
The unproductive rivalry that existed between
Nigeria and some ECOWAS countries has also
been ended under my watch and Nigeria now has
better relations with all the ECOWAS countries. At
the African Union, we now have a Commissioner at
the AU Commission after being without one for so
long. We were in the United Nations Security
Council for the 2010/2011 Session and we have
been voted in again for the 2014/2015 Session.
From independence to 2010, we were in the U.N.
Security Council only three times but from 2010 to
2015, we will be there two times.
This did not happen by chance. My Administration
worked hard for it and we continue to maintain the
best possible relations with all centres of global
political and economic power. I find it hard
therefore, to believe your assertions of untoward
concern in the international community over the
state of governance in Nigeria
With respect to the Brass and Olokola LNG
projects, you may have forgotten that though you
started these projects, Final Investment Decisions
were never reached. For your information, NNPC
has not withdrawn from either the Olokola or the
Brass LNG projects.
On the Rivers State Water Project, you were
misled by your informant. The Federal Government
under my watch has never directed or instructed
the Africa Development Bank to put on hold any
project to be executed in Rivers state or any other
State within the Federation. The Rivers Water
Project was not originally in the borrowing plan but
it was included in April 2013 and appraised in May.
Negotiations are ongoing with the AfDB.  I have no
doubt that you are familiar with the entire process
that prefaces the signing of a Subsidiary Loan
Agreement as in this instance.
Let me assure you and all Nigerians that I do not
engage in negative political actions and will never,
as President, oppress the people of a State or
deprive them of much needed public services as a
result of political disagreement
I have noted your comments on the proposed
National Conference. Contrary to the insinuation in
your letter, the proposed conference is aimed at
bringing Nigerians together to resolve contentious
national issues in a formal setting. This is a sure
way of promoting greater national consensus and
unity, and not a recipe for “disunity, confusion and
chaos” as you alleged in your letter.
Having twice held the high office of President,
Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria, I trust that you will
understand that I cannot possibly find the time to
offer a line-by-line response to all the accusations
and allegations made in your letter while dealing
with other pressing demands of office and more
urgent affairs of state.
I have tried, however, to respond to only the most
serious of the charges which question my
sincerity, personal honour, and commitment to the
oath which I have sworn, to always uphold and
protect the interests of all Nigerians, and promote
their well-being.
In closing, let me state that you have done me
grave injustice with your public letter in which you
wrongfully accused me of deceit, deception,
dishonesty, incompetence, clannishness,
divisiveness and insincerity, amongst other ills.
I have not, myself, ever claimed to be all-knowing
or infallible, but I have never taken Nigeria or
Nigerians for granted as you implied, and I will
continue to do my utmost to steer our ship of state
towards the brighter future to which we all aspire.
Please accept the assurances of my highest
consideration and warm regards.
GOODLUCK EBELE JONATHAN