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From Yusuf Abiola, Abeokuta
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has disowned his former chief press secretary, Igwe Alex Nwokedi over comments that he warned President Muhammadu Buhari not to seek re-election in 2019.
Obasanjo, in a statement issued by his media aide, Kehinde Akinyemi, in Abeokuta, yesterday, described the report as “completely false and destructive by those behind it.”
Obasanjo said there has been no communication between him and Nwokedi in the last three years and wondered why any news would be attributed to him, as published by an online news portal.
“My belief is that democracy allows for anybody, including President Buhari for that matter, to contest any election and it is the prerogative right of Nigerians to vote or not to vote for them.
“I have not communicated with Alex in the last three years, so, how can a story be credited to me when I did not authorise such or communicated with him in the last three years?” Obasanjo queried.
The former president added that nobody has the right, “not even me, to advise my children not to seek elective post. It is part of freedom of democracy.
“I condemn, in the highest manner, the story and those behind it. And, for those behind it, they are simply enemies of democracy and freedom of expression.”
Obasanjo restated commitment to the peace and progress of the country’s democratic development, which he assured would bring relief in no distant future with patience and understanding of the country’s masses.
At the weekend, Nwokedi, a traditional ruler said in an interview with a national newspaper that “President Buhari has no programme. He had only one ambition; he wanted to be president and by the grace of God, he is now the President. There is one adage which says that, ‘When a child wakes up in the night, he is looking for something. And, when he sees it he will go back to sleep’.
“The economy is not just bad but, very bad. We have no alternative than to support him for the remaining years he has to spend.
“The economy is very bad and Buhari should give way for somebody who has plan to come and take care of the economy…”
On what programmes the government should put in place after the current diversification and fiscal policies, it claimed would be used to resuscitate the ailing economy, Nwokedi said, “Ask him, what programme does he have?”
I have told you agriculture and it is the mainstay of Nigerian economy right from time immemorial. Oil is just a recent thing.
“If we develop agriculture, you will see how less concerned we will naturally become about oil. Part of the problem is that Buhari has to be fair to all ethnic groups in Nigeria and not to pay attention to only one. It is not only when you embezzle money that they say you are dishonest. Buhari could be honest but he is not a fair man.”
