A former Aviation Minister, Femi-Fani Kayode, on Friday said that the controversial 18 page letter
by former president Olusegun Obasanjo wrote spells doom for President
Goodluck Jonathan and the PDP as it would act as a catalyst to terminate
the President’s 2015 ambition.
“I believe that Obasanjo’s letter will end up ensuring President
Goodluck Jonathan’s fortunes as President of the country post 2015 may
not be realised.
“I believe this is the end of Jonathan and I believe this is the end
of the PDP as a party, unless Jonathan retraces his steps,” he said.
Mr Fani-Kayode who described the letter as ‘timely’ and ‘historic’
said President Obasanjo is making attempts at correcting his mistake of
supporting Jonathan in becoming the President, as well as an attempt to
help Jonathan restore the PDP as a party and to restore the country.
Many have criticised the former head of state, Obasanjo on grounds
that he contributed to the evils he accused President Jonathan of
committing but Fani-Kayode retorted by saying Obasanjo is qualified to
make such assertions because he is a father to Jonathan, the PDP and the
nation.
“This country is going adrift and I think if an elder statesman and
somebody who was instrumental in ensuring that President Goodluck
Jonathan became president of this country, (a person who is considered a
father to the president, a father to the nation and a father to the
PDP) is not in a position to tell us the truth about what’s going on in
our country and what is going on with our president, then the signals
are clear that the country is on the brink of disaster”, “If he’s not qualified to speak, if he’s not qualified to say what
needs to be said publicly in order to help the president to chart the
right course, then I really wonder who is,” he said.
Fani-Kayode who agreed with 99 percent of assertions in the letter,
objected to claims made by the former president as regarding Lagos state
and Bola Tinubu.
“There are one or two aspects, particularly on the issue of Lagos
state and Bola Tinubu. I would respectfully disagree with president
Obasanjo in terms of how Lagos was won but other than that I agree with
everything he has delivered and I think he’s been courageous and he’s
shown leadership and those of us that were his disciples and that worked
for him for a number of years, can now hold our heads up high that even
though he got it wrong by supporting people like Goodluck Jonathan to
be president in the first place, he’s finally retraced his steps. He’s
doing the right thing and he’s cleaning up the mess that he partly
created.”
On President Jonathan’s rumoured second term agenda, Mr Fani-Kayode
said Obasanjo’s words at Jonathan are timely and necessary as well as
honourable because he put his life and the lives of his family members
on the line.
“The right and proper thing to do is for the government and the
president himself to personally (as an individual and not through any of
his aides or ministers) try to address these issues.”
The former minister praised the former President saying that he had contributed immensely to the fortune of the nation.
During the civil war, he ensured that the Igbo’s surrender. When the
Shagari government was going adrift, he spoke out and things happened.
He did the same during the Babangida regime.
During the Yar’adua regime, Obasanjo spoke out against the late
President’s continued reign in office even though he was on a sick bed.
Fani-Kayode stressed that the current president has enjoyed support
from the former head of state over the last three years, to the
disagreement of many who thought he got it wrong in the first place.
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