- Mohammed Lawal accused Olusegun Obasanjo of trying to destabilise the Buhari administration
- He said the former president could have reached Buhari privately
- He said Buhari supporters were ready to fight the Obasanjo coalition
Mohammed Lawal who served former deputy director, Implementation and Coordination, Presidential Campaign Organisation has claimed that Chief Olusegun Obasanjo wants to destabilise the Muhammadu Buhari administration with his letter.
The former president had written a letter to Buhari asking him not to seek re-election in 2019 while also calling for the formation of a Coalition for Nigeria.
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In an interview with The Nation, Lawal who is also a member of the board of the NNPC said security agents were watching insisting that Obasanjo’s letter was not in goodwill but to create problem to destabilise the government.
He said: “He is a letter writer. He did it to Shagari, he did it to ex-President Ibrahim Babangida, he did it to the late Head of State, Gen. Sani Abacha, the late President Umaru Yar’Adua and he did it to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan. But what he didn’t take cognizance of is that Buhari is not Goodluck or Yar’Adua. Buhari contested for presidency three times in this country. That experience Obasanjo is claiming to have, Buhari has it more than him. And if you see the way the government and party responded, it was not the way they responded during the past administration. So, since Obasanjo said he wants to work with coalition to destabilize the government, we have taken note of it.
“It is to destabilize because if you want to effect change, that is not the way to address the office that he went through for eight years. He was the President of this country for eight years; he knows what it means by Presidential communication. Look, if Obasanjo started his letter by saying that he tried his best to reach Buhari through anybody and he couldn’t, it is a different case. But there is malice in the letter and he is not the patriot he is claiming to be.
“Look, there is malice in it. I am speaking to you as Buhari’s supporter not as an appointee or a spokesperson for his government. Obasanjo wants to fight this government and Buhari’s supporters will fight back. We know their plans, more letters are coming and there is a way he wants to turn people to rebel against the government. But the security agencies are watching and we have people in some NGOs and others who would confront him. Look, nobody knows their intention but I am telling you, this would be the last time he would write letter. We are not Goodluck Jonathan.
“The advice is taken in good faith. Where he ad vised, we would accept and work with it but this has been his tradition. Nobody knows anything in this country except him. He did that to Abacha and look at what Abacha did to him and he is trying to do it to Buhari now by galvanizing people to rebel and riot against government.
“That is the intention but the security people are watching and they must do something about it. But if they fail to do something about it, we are in politics; we will galvanize people and go to the street. He will never write letters to anybody again by the time we finish this war. This is the last letter he would write to any Head of State. So, because Buhari is trying to be more democratic than any president in this country, people now feel that they can say whatever they want? Buhari’s supporters will not take it. The supporters are there and ready to confront Obasanjo’s coalition and we are calling on the attention of the security people to be on the watch.”
Meanwhile, Obasanjo’s call for the establishment of a Coalition for Nigeria reportedly started gaining prominence as members of the National Assembly are ready to defect when the time comes.
The Punch reports that a lawmaker on the platform of the APC from the north claimed about 80 per cent of lawmakers were ready to join the former president.
2019 reelection bid: Should President Buhari heed Obasanjo's advice? - On NAIJ.com TV
Source: Naija.ng