… Asks Ex-President To Leave PDP And Join APC
BEVERLY HILLS, December 02, (THEWILL) – A youth group, Afenifere Renaissance Youth Congress (ARYG), Monday, asked former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, to stop denigrating The Presidency with his incessant public attacks on President Goodluck Jonathan.
It advised the former President to instead dump the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and declare for the opposition party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), rather than working to damage the ruling party from within.
The group, which is made up of many members of the PDP in the South-west zone, also described as unstatesmanlike, Obasanjo’s attitude of publicly attacking President Goodluck Jonathan when, according to the group, as a former president, Obasanjo has unfettered access to the Presidential Villa where he could have offered his advice to President Jonathan privately.
Reacting to the recent attacks by Obasanjo on President Jonathan, the Yoruba youth group, in a statement signed by its leader, Mr. Abimbola Owolabi, stated that it is difficult to believe that Obasanjo is still a member of the PDP.
Wondering why Obasanjo cannot respect the provisions of the Constitution of the party, especially the section that frowns at bringing the name and image of the Party to disrepute, the group said: “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.”
“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 also wondered why an elder statesman like former President Obasanjo will be peddling lies as facts just to damage politically, President Jonathan and his party, the PDP.
According to the group, “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,” the group stated.
Calling on Obasanjo to move out of the PDP and pitch his tent with the APC now that he has donned the garb of an opposition element, the group said: “Obasanjo is a war General; he should be bold enough to show to Nigerians his APC membership card,” adding “He is too old for this chicanery and the hide-and-seek game he is playing within the PDP.”
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