Again, Presidency Spurns Obasanjo’s Assessment of Buhari
In reaction to the latest noconfidence vote passed by former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, on President Muhammadu Buhari, the presidency has said Obasanjo’s failure tag on the current administration was not new.
It said the administration would therefore not join issues with the former president over his comments and assessment.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Obasanjo last Monday night, while addressing a group of youths who visited him at his country home in Abeokuta, had described the Buhari administration as a failure.
Obasanjo also asked the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led government to stop complaining about the challenges it met on the ground.
“What we have now is failure. Never you reinforce failure, let failure be failure. Those of you who are in business, your business could have been better today if we have a competent, effective and performing government.”
However, the President’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, who responded to Obasanjo’s comments in a phone interview on Channels Television last Monday night, said the assessment was not new.
“Already, the statement issued few months ago by the Minister of Information and Culture, Mr. Lai Mohammed, in response to the earlier criticism made against the government by Obasanjo had adequately addressed the issues raised,” Adesina said.
He maintained that the APC-led federal government would keep making reference to the failures of the past administration with a view to guarding against such mistakes in future.
According to Adesina, the Buhari administration has successfully tackled the mismanagement of the country economy, as Nigeria now has more savings in its foreign reserve than ever before.
The former president had earlier issued a 13-page statement criticising Buhari’s performance and councelled him not to seek re-election in 2019.
Obasanjo’s 13-page statement attracted mixed reactions from a cross sections of Nigerians including politicians and opinion leaders from within and outside the country.