Less than 24 hours after President Goodluck Jonathan replied his letter, former President Olusegun Obasanjo has foreclosed making further comments on the matter as demanded by Mr. Jonathan.
Jonathan had on Sunday sent an 11-page response to Obasanjo’s letter, dated December 2 and titled ‘Before it is too late’, where the President debunked various allegations leveled against him by the former president ranging from corruption; his 2015 ambition; dividing Nigeria along ethnic lines; condoning corruption; to training of a killer squad.
President Jonathan had also demanded an apology from Obasanjo for accusing him falsely especially since some of the allegations, such as the purported missing $49.8bn had been debunked by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN Governor, Mr. Sanusi Lamido, who initially raised the alarm on the unremitted funds and was quoted by the former president in his widely circulated letter.
But in a statement on Monday by his Media aide, Tunde Oladunjoye, Obasanjo said he had fulfilled his desire to call the attention of Jonathan to salient issues, adding that he would no longer elaborate on the content on the letter.
The statement read, “Since the publication of the letter written by the President, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, GCFR, which was in response to the letter earlier written by revered former President, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, GCFR; we have received several requests from local and international media asking to know Chief Obasanjo’s reaction to Mr. President’s response.
“One, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, GCFR, acknowledges Mr. President’s letter/response. However, Baba, as he already indicated in his December 2, 2013 letter, does not wish to make further comments beyond the contents of his last letter to Mr. President or react to the said letter/response from Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan. Let me quote from page fourteen, paragraph two of Chief Obasanjo’s letter to Mr. President dated December 2, 2013 and titled Before It Is Too Late:
‘I will maintain my serenity, because by this letter I have done my duty to you as I have always done, to your government, to the party, PDP, and to our country, Nigeria’.
“Two, let me reiterate here, that Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, GCFR has tremendous respect for the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
The statement added, “Chief Olusegun Obasanjo sincerely appreciates all of you, my cherished colleagues; gentlemen and women of the media profession, who have been very upright, ethical and robust on the subject matter”.
Uneasy calm.Posterity shall judge all present and past leaders.