Fayose attacks Obasanjo for criticising Jonathan

TOYIN ANISULOWO, Ado-Ekiti

Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State has resumed hostilities with former President Olusegun Obasanjo, warning him to stop attacking the immediate past President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan.

Fayose was reacting to comments credited to Obasanjo at the 11th convocation lecture of Ben Idahosa University, Benin, Edo State, where the ex-president was quoted as saying that Jonathan’s performance in office will haunt the South-South region for a long time to come.

The governor, who was miffed by Obasanjo’s latest tirade against Jonathan, said the Otuoke-born former Nigerian leader “has since left office and should be allowed to live a private life devoid of mudslinging”.

Fayose in a statement issued yesterday by his Special Assistant on Public Communication and New Media, Lere Olayinka, contended that the people of the South-South voted overwhelmingly for Jonathan in the last presidential poll “despite the gang-up orchestrated by Obasanjo and his allies”.

“Most importantly, Jonathan’s performance as a democrat has been widely acknowledged locally and internationally, particularly by President Muhammadu Buhari, who on many occasions acknowledged the role he played in midwifing a peaceful and successful transition programme, thereby averting the feared crisis in the country.

“This is in contrast to Baba Obasanjo, who tried for third term when he was about concluding his constitutional two terms. And who knows whether he would have tried fourth term if he had succeeded with his third term agenda?

“The reality is, assuming but not conceding that Jonathan performed below expectation, democratic governance that he established in Nigeria is more important than any other performance that Obasanjo alluded to.”

The governor urged Obasanjo to stop running other Nigerians down, saying: “We are all stakeholders in the country called Nigeria. It is wrong for any Nigerian no matter how highly placed to go about carrying himself around as the only honest and lover of the country.”

“Since Baba Obasanjo has openly destroyed his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) membership card, he is free to go about seeking relevance in the All Progressives Congress (APC) without running anyone down.”