Vanguard newspaper has reported that two days after he spoke against President Goodluck Jonathan’s re-election in London, former President Olusegun Obasanjo, now at home, attacked the President, yesterday, accusing him of a hidden agenda over the 2015 polls. Specifically, Obasanjo alleged that Jonathan was engaged in do-or-die politics.
But in a swift reaction, the Presidency and Jonathan’s Campaign Office charged that Obasanjo’s allegations were not only baseless but also absurd, repugnant and self-serving. On Thursday, while publicly presenting his latest book, ‘My Watch’, in London, the former President told his audience that the certificate issue against Major General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd), APC presidential candidate in the forthcoming general elections, was a ploy by Jonathan’s men to stop Buhari in the election.
The former President, who spoke to journalists at his Hilltop Mansion residence, Abeokuta, likened the politics played by Jonathan to “the do-or-die” politics played by the former President of Cote d’Ivoire, Laurent Gbagbo.
Obasanjo, while reacting to the postponement of the general elections, said it was a grand plan by Jonathan to perpetuate himself in office till the situation becomes clear that the presidential election would favour him.
According to Vanguard, he likened the situation to the one in Cote d’Ivoire in which Gbagbo delayed the presidential election of the country and, when he eventually conducted the election and lost, refused to leave office.
“I was away because I had a number of assignments abroad which took me to Morocco, Munich, Nairobi, London and New Delhi. Exactly a week today, we were in Munich for what they called `Munich security conference’ and all people who are in security community, normally, you found them there”, the former President said.
“For this year, the Vice President of America was there, the Secretary of State, John Kerry, was there, the Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany was there, President of Ukraine was there and many others.
“I was there with Koffi Annan. Our side was to talk about peace and security in Africa. I was to handle the African perspective while Koffi Annan was to look at it from the global perspective, Obasanjo said. (Vanguard).