•Says Obasanjo responsible for 50% of Nigeria’s problems
Job Osazuwa and Fred Ezeh, Abuja
Forum of Non Governmental Organisations in Nigeria (FONGON) has said President Muhammadu Buhari is not too old to contest for a second term in 2019.
The group also blamed former President Olusegun Obasanjo for being responsible for half of the entire problem confronting the country.
The forum, which consists of about 200 non governmental organisations, at a press briefing in Abuja, yesterday, said Obasanjo cannot impose his will on the people, and so, should allow the principle of democracy to reign in 2019.
National Coordinator of the forum, Wole Badmus, who pledged the organisation’s support for the current administration, emphasised that Obasanjo, who did two terms in office, yet wanted for extra four years, thus lacks the moral credibility to discourage Buhari from contesting for a second term.
He said President Buhari is strong, experienced and credible enough to run in the next year election, adding that Buhari is not too old to contest re-election in 2019 general poll.
Badmus, who acknowledged the age and authority of the former president, however doubted if Obasanjo has good intention for the country.
“With due respect, whether he has good intention for the country or not, we cannot really say, but, we know that if you want to identify the problems of Nigeria, without fear or favour, 50 per cent can be attributed to the individual called Olusegun Obasanjo,” he said.
Badmus criticised different Obasanjo’s letters and added that the only person he exonerated was himself.
“As for the letter, yes, he raised some valid points which are not as a result of the ineptness of the present administration but Obasanjo will equally realise that it is as a result of inherited baggage, liquidation and liabilities Buhari’s administration inherited from the past government. Everybody knows that the country was at the brink of collapse as at May 2015. So, you cannot put the entire blame on Buhari…in writing his latest letter, did he make a single attempt to see the president? No.
“Somebody just came telling Nigerians yearly that they must take his own dosage to our democratic ailment, it is never done. Democracy is game of numbers, not gain of an individual. With due respect, former president Olusegun Obasanjo cannot be imposing his whims and caprices upon the nation all the time. We see the letter as distractive because, as somebody said, Buhari has not declared for 2019, why are we campaigning for him?
“The question needs to be asked, why is Obasanjo distracting Buhari when he has not declared in actual fact? Why are people telling Buhari not to contest when he has not declared that he is running? This is mark of double standards. You are castigating somebody and arm-twisting him. You are saying he should not run because you don’t believe in him but we believe in him, so, we are saying he should run. The simple answer is to subject everything to democratic scrutiny.”
He said Obasanjo cannot limit the existing alternatives before Nigerians, and stressed that there are various attempts from some quarters, to arm-twist the president from contesting and discharging his constitutional duties.
Also in Abuja, some supporters of the Buhari administration have chronicled his achievements in a soon-to-be-unveiled book.
Daily Sun gathered that the book, titled “Footprint of change, the Buhari/Osinbajo success story” will highlight the achievements of the president since 2015.
President of Buhari Victory Mobilisers (BVM), Chief Law Madu, told newsmen at a press conference, yesterday, that the book will serve as an antidote to the “poison” being fed to Nigerians by some people who have sworn to run down the government and tarnish the credibility of the president.