His
Excellency,
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.
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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