His Excellency,
Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, GCFR
Agbe L’Oba House, Quarry Road,
Ibara, Abeokuta.
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...
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
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