PDP, CNM back Obasanjo’s Buhari is a failure comment -

The Peoples Democratic Party and the
Coalition for Nigeria Movement have supported former President Olusegun
Obasanjo’s assertion that President Muhammadu Buhari administration is
a failure.

The PDP and the CNM, which stated this
in separate interviews with our correspondents on Tuesday, advised
Buhari to accept criticisms.

The opposition party said that the former President spoke the minds of Nigerians on Buhari’s performance.

The National Chairman of the PDP, Prince
Uche Secondus, said that the PDP was not surprised at the summation of
the President’s scorecard as a failure by the former President.

He said, “President Obasanjo spoke the
minds of Nigerians on the performance of President Buhari. We all know
that the President has not done well. It is clear that the ruling party
and the Presidency are asleep and do not know what to do with power.

“The President has no economic
blueprint, nothing on security and nothing on infrastructural
development. His main agenda is to come and fight perceived enemies and
also bring his relations to government. That is why he is surrounded by
his relations only.”

He, however, disagreed with Obasanjo on the apology the PDP offered to Nigerians and members of the party.

On its part, the CNM asked Buhari to
accept the criticisms and stop being recalcitrant. The spokesman for the
CNM, Mr. Akin Osuntokun, said this during an interview with one of our
correspondents on Tuesday.

He said Buhari had done nothing but had
been giving excuses in the last three years, adding that his penchant
for blaming his predecessor was no longer amusing to Nigerians.

Osuntokun said, “When Obasanjo became President in 1999, there were many
challenges he inherited from the past military governments but he was
working. Buhari has been in power for nearly three years and he
continues to blame the past government.

“Government is a continuum. Was he not
expecting to meet any challenges? Which government doesn’t inherit
challenges? Let him tell the world what he has accomplished in the face
of challenges.

“He claims to be fighting corruption but
the Transparency International has rated Nigeria worse than it did
during Jonathan’s government. Under Buhari, Nigeria has become more
divided than ever. We stand with Obasanjo.”

But a senior lawyer, Festus Keyamo, on his twitter handle, berated Obasanjo.

He stated, “For the records, the 2007
elections over which he (Obasanjo) presided was adjudged one of the
worst the world has ever seen, prompting President Yar’Adua to apologise
to Nigerians.

President Buhari and Chief Obasanjo, ahead of the Council of State Meeting today at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Olusola Fabiyi, Eniola Akinkuotu and Olaleye Aluko

The Peoples Democratic Party and the
Coalition for Nigeria Movement have supported former President Olusegun
Obasanjo’s assertion that President Muhammadu Buhari administration is
a failure.

The PDP and the CNM, which stated this
in separate interviews with our correspondents on Tuesday, advised
Buhari to accept criticisms.

The opposition party said that the former President spoke the minds of Nigerians on Buhari’s performance.

The National Chairman of the PDP, Prince
Uche Secondus, said that the PDP was not surprised at the summation of
the President’s scorecard as a failure by the former President.

He, however, disagreed with Obasanjo on the apology the PDP offered to Nigerians and members of the party.

He said Buhari had done nothing but had
been giving excuses in the last three years, adding that his penchant
for blaming his predecessor was no longer amusing to Nigerians.

Osuntokun said, “When Obasanjo became
President in 1999, there were many challenges he inherited from the past
military governments but he was working. Buhari has been in power for
nearly three years and he continues to blame the past government.

“Government is a continuum. Was he not
expecting to meet any challenges? Which government doesn’t inherit
challenges? Let him tell the world what he has accomplished in the face
of challenges.

But a senior lawyer, Festus Keyamo, on his twitter handle, berated Obasanjo.

He stated, “For the records, the 2007
elections over which he (Obasanjo) presided was adjudged one of the
worst the world has ever seen, prompting President Yar’Adua to apologise
to Nigerians.

“Since 1960, a few people have always
determined who would govern all of us. They are the ones now writing
letters and inciting the people. 2019 would be a defining moment as the
people of this country will truly determine their own fate and put these
self-conceited leaders to ultimate shame.”

However, a member of the National
Executive Committee of the ruling All Progressives Congress, Alhaji
Nasiru Danu, asked Nigerians to continue to support Buhari.

He said that the statements credited to
Obasanjo on the re-election bid of the President were his personal
opinion, adding that the ex-President could not speak for Nigerians.

Speaking during an interactive session
with journalists at the national secretariat of the party in Abuja on
Tuesday, Danu said though Obasanjo remained an elder statesman, his
assertions on the performance of President Buhari were political.

Civil societies knock Buhari, Obasanjo

Two civil societies, the Campaign for
Democracy and the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights, however,
warned Obasanjo not to make inflammatory comments that could heat the
country, noting that Buhari’s administration had also failed to prove
his critics wrong.

The CD President, Usman Abdul, said
while Obasanjo was right in his assessment of Buhari’s government, the
former President could not be relied on to produce any credible leader
for the country.

Obasanjo had on Monday called on
President Buhari to stop giving Nigerians excuses, adding that the
President should buckle down as he was presently a failure.

The former President while speaking at
the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, Abeokuta, Ogun State, while
playing host to the New Nigeria 2019 Group, said it was uncharitable for
the President and his party to whine about the challenges almost three
years in office, while they had failed to solve the challenges.

But the CD President, Abdul, said on
Tuesday that while President Buhari’s scorecard on economy and security
was low, Nigerians must tread with caution in following former President
Obasanjo’s counsel.

He said, “I agree with former President
Obasanjo’s narrative of the Buhari administration. Obasanjo is right.
The scorecard of this administration is very low, if we want to be very
sincere with ourselves. Look at the economy and see the decay. Even on
the fight against corruption and arrest of looters, what we have is
selected trials.

“But we should not say Obasanjo has said
it all, because he was part of the people who brought this government
to power. We must thread with caution when dealing with the former
President. We must be careful on how we relate to his criticisms.”

Also, the CDHR President, Malachy
Ugwummadu, said the former President might be playing politics with his
castigation of the Buhari administration, as the former President had a
direct access to President Buhari rather than “making public political
statements.”

He said, “I believe at this point that
former President Obasanjo is stretching his luck too far. I am not
oblivious of his constitutional rights to freely express himself and
participate in the affairs of his country. I also do believe that as a
former leader of the country for eight years, he must have a strong say.

“However, he is stretching his luck too
far; his channel of communication with the President is always open.
Obasanjo is among the few people who have direct access to power, but
they delight in rather making comments that may heat up the system. The
former President must be told that he is the worst advertisement of the
product that he is selling now.”

……..Don’t forget to like The Drum Online Facebook page and always visit www.thedrumonline.net for your news updates.