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Peoples Democratic Party stalwart in Ogun State, Buruji Kashamu, on
Sunday, said former president Olusegun Obasanjo lacked the moral right
to criticise President Goodluck Jonathan administration’s over the
handling of corruption and the Boko Haram insurgency in the North.
Also, former Petroleum Resources Minister, Alhaji Shettima Monguno, has faulted Obasanjo’s comments.
Both spoke against the backdrop of the recent statements credited to Obasanjo.
The former president had on the occasion
to mark the 40th anniversary of Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor as a clergyman,
criticised Jonathan’s handling of corruption and the activities of Boko
Haram.
Kashamu, in a statement in Abeokuta said
Obasanjo’s administration, which did not do better in tackling
corruption and terrorism in its eight years, laid the foundation for the
country’s current travails.
He said, “Perhaps, the point should be
made – and poignantly too – that the earlier Obasanjo purges himself of
his messianic postures, the better it would be for him and the nation at
large. He is quick to recount his exploits while in office. But the
truth is: the foundation of some of the challenges that we are grappling
with today were laid during his last years in office.”
The PDP chief further accused Obasanjo
of pursuing a personal and selfish agenda by his criticisms of the
Jonathan administration.
However, Monguno, while speaking to
journalists in Maiduguri, Borno State, on Saturday, submitted that
Obasanjo had no moral right to criticise Jonathan
He said, “Somebody who wanted to extend
his tenure beyond the constitutional term; tried his very best to extend
but was rejected, is now advising government to do the wrong thing”.
The former Petroleum Minister noted that
Obasanjo’s prescription of military action the type he unleashed on
the Odi community during his reign in 1999 would only compound the
problem.
Monguno said, “I do not agree with our
former President that Jonathan should use force, or use the military to
crush what they always call the Boko Haram.”
According to him, even in the military, soldiers do not want to go to war unless it is absolutely necessary.
He noted that even the United Nations
does not use force in situations like this and advised Obasanjo to look
back on his military and political way of life.
Monguno said rather than use force, Jonathan should explore peaceful means of resolving the Boko Haram threat.
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