Former Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Chief Bode George has asked ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo to shut up and stop playing to the gallery through public criticism of President Muhammadu Buhari.
The Lagos State chieftain of the PDP, in a recent interview with the Daily Sun Newspaper, berated former President Olusegun Obasanjo for publicly criticizing President Muhammadu Buhari
Below is a related excerpt from the Daily Sun interview:
Many people including former President Obasanjo are saying that things are getting too tough for Nigerians and that President Buhari should do something fast about the recession and economic crises facing the nation, what is your reaction to that?
What people should realize is that Rome was not built in a day. We all have one role or the other to play in bringing the situation back to normal.
But to crucify President Muhammadu Buhari I don’t agree. For me, I believe in praying for leaders.
Let’s pray for Buhari that God should give him the wisdom to pull Nigeria through the present economic crisis. It is true that many Nigerians, millions are genuinely suffering, the hardship in the land today is beyond human comprehension, but rather than condemning Buhari, I will continue to pray for him to succeed.
Although we belong to different political parties, but I don’t want to talk politics now, let’s talk about the nation and Nigerian interests, I pray to God that the president should have quick solutions to myriads of problems facing us today especially problem of poverty, hunger and biting economic recession.
Buhari should assemble a team that will work with him to get us out of these problems as fast as possible.
Condemning Buhari is not the solution but we should advise and pray for him. I believe it is too early to condemn Buhari, may be after three years, we can ask him to present his scorecard. Condemning Buhari is not the solution but we should advise and pray for him.
Moreso, I don’t believe in the approach adopted by Baba [former President Olusegun Obasanjo].
Why should Baba go public in his criticism of Buhari?
Obasanjo has unlimited access to the President, even if he asks Buhari to come and see him at his farm in Ota , I believe Buhari would go there to see him and there he would have expressed his mind on the nation’s state of affairs to the President, after all he was Buhari’s former boss in the military.
But for Obasanjo to have gone public to condemn Buhari’s policy to me is like a betrayal, it amounts to playing to the gallery.
For those other Nigerians condemning the President openly, it is understandable, they don’t have direct access to the President, but for Obasanjo who have unlimited access to the President to have behaved in that way, it is like playing to the gallery.
I believe he should have adopted a more matured approach. However , like I said earlier I believe it is too early to condemn Buhari, may be after three years, we can ask him to present his score card.
There was a report that some Yoruba elders were trying to broker peace between you and former President Obasanjo. The two of you were known to be very close until things fell apart, how true is the reconciliation effort?
I’m not fighting anybody. Baba is Baba anyday. I’m not fighting him. He was my senior in the military, and my political leader when he became civilian president. I worked with him closely and if I still see him today, I will salute him and pay him compliments as my elder and senior. But like I said earlier, whatever a human being does he should be fair to all, and God fearing. Vengeance is mine as God says.
If we are not close again today, it doesn’t matter. When I was working with Obasanjo, I was completely loyal to him, 100 percent loyal, but what I got back in return for my loyalty was a shock. I didn’t bargain for it.
What kind of shock was that?
I supported Obasanjo blindly but what did I get in return, I got a blind eye for supporting him. I was jailed on a false allegation. I went to prison falsely accused but thank God the Supreme Court quashed my jail sentence.
But my disappointment with Baba was that when I was released from prison, and my supporters came rejoicing with me, and I was given a heroic welcome, Obasanjo said we were celebrating criminality. That means that Obasanjo who I was extremely loyal to, also believe that I truly committed the crime.
But God fought my battle, and my adversaries were all put to shame. I thank God for the Supreme Court judgment, which exonerated me from committing any crime.
I was wrongfully jailed, but since God has vindicated me, I bear no bitterness or grudges against anybody including Obasanjo, but I have learnt a great lesson about human beings. I thank God that I went to prison, I came out without becoming a blind person or suffering one deformity or the other.
Life is but a walking shadow, and the Bible says in everything, always thank God.
Read full interview from Daily Sun
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