*’His criticism borne out of mischief or ignorance’
By Soni Daniel
The Presidency yesterday reacted angrily to the continuous vituperations being poured on President Goodluck Jonathan by former President Olusegun Obasanjo, describing the Ota farmer as a confused man.
The Special Adviser to the President on Political Matters, Alhaji Ahmed Gulak, made the remark exclusively to Sunday Vanguard while reacting to newspaper reports yesterday in which the former president was quoted as heaping the blame for the insurgency in the country on Jonathan.
Gulak said Nigerians should not take Obasanjo’s criticism of Jonathan serious because it was either his comments were based on ignorance or outright mischief or both, but primarily geared towards confusing the people and distracting the Presidency from delivering on its promise to Nigerians.
According to the President’s aide, the security problem in Nigeria actually started during Obasanjo’s presidency and peaked during Yar’Adua’s time and was merely inherited by the present administration.
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He said it was therefore wrong and condemnable for Obasanjo or any Nigerian for that matter to accuse Jonathan of not tackling the security challenges headlong, saying that the man was doing his best to stem the tide of the crisis.
Gulak, who described Boko Haram as an international security threat that has its roots outside Nigeria, pointed out that the federal administration had shown the will and capacity to deal with the situation the way it should be.
The Political Adviser said, “As far as I am concerned, Obasanjo is becoming more confused and Nigerians should not take him serious on the issue of his attacks on President Goodluck Jonathan.
“Nigerians have not forgotten that it was in Obasanjo’s time that Zaki Biam, Odi, bombing of oil facilities and militancy became very rampant in the country. So let us not be distracted by his antics, which are either borne out of ignorance or outright mischief or both.”
The former President had been quoted in the magazine, New African, as saying that Jonathan should blame no one but himself if he cannot address the Boko Haram crisis.
“If the president is the chief security officer of the country and there is a security problem, where do you go for the solution?”, Obasanjo said in his latest public criticism of the president.
“And if that solution is not coming from the chief security officer, who has everybody and can mobilise everybody inside and outside to get a solution, then he has the responsibility to solve the problem. And nobody else should be blamed but him”.
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Source: Vanguard
