December 20th 2013
His
Excellency,
Chief
Olusegun Obasanjo, GCFR
Agbe
L’Oba House, Quarry Road,
Ibara, Abeokuta.
RE: BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE
I wish
to formally acknowledge your letter dated December 2, 2013 and other previous
correspondence similar to it.
You
will recall that all the letters were brought to me by hand. Although both of
us discussed some of the issues in those letters, I had not, before now, seen
the need for any formal reply since, to me, they contained advice from a former
President to a serving President. Obviously, you felt differently because in
your last letter, you complained about my not acknowledging or replying your
previous letters.
It is
with the greatest possible reluctance that I now write this reply. I am most
uneasy about embarking on this unprecedented and unconventional form of open
communication between me and a former leader of our country because I know that
there are more acceptable and dignified means of doing so.
But I
feel obliged to reply your letter for a number of reasons: one, you formally
requested for a reply and not sending you one will be interpreted as ignoring a
former President.
Secondly, Nigerians know the role you have played in
my political life and given the unfortunate tone of your letter, clearly, the
grapes have gone sour. Therefore, my side of the story also needs to be
told.
The
third reason why I must reply you in writing is that your letter is clearly a
threat to national security as it may deliberately or inadvertently set the
stage for subversion.
The
fourth reason for this reply is that you raised very weighty issues, and since
the letter has been made public, Nigerians are expressing legitimate concerns.
A response from me therefore, becomes very necessary.
The fifth reason is that this letter may appear in
biographies and other books which political commentators on Nigeria’s
contemporary politics may write. It is only proper for such publications to
include my comments on the issues raised in your letter.
Sixthly, you are very unique in terms of the
governance of this country. You were a military Head of State for three years
and eight months, and an elected President for eight years. That means you have
been the Head of Government of Nigeria for about twelve years. This must have,
presumably, exposed you to a lot of information. Thus when you make a
statement, there is the tendency for people to take it seriously.
The seventh reason is that the timing of your letter
coincided with other vicious releases. The Speaker of the House of
Representatives spoke of my “body language” encouraging corruption. A
letter written to me by the CBN Governor alleging that NNPC, within a period of
19 months did not remit the sum of USD49.8 billion to the federation account,
was also deliberately leaked to the public.
The eighth reason is that it appears that your letter
was designed to incite Nigerians from other geopolitical zones against me and
also calculated to promote ethnic disharmony. Worse still, your letter was
designed to instigate members of our Party, the PDP, against me.
The ninth reason is that your letter conveys to me the
feeling that landmines have been laid for me. Therefore, Nigerians need to have
my response to the issues raised before the mines explode.
The tenth and final reason why my reply is inevitable
is that you have written similar letters and made public comments in reference
to all former Presidents and Heads of Government starting from Alhaji Shehu
Shagari and these have instigated different actions and reactions. The purpose
and direction of your letter is distinctly ominous, and before it is too late,
my clarifications on the issues need to be placed on record.
Let me
now comment on the issues you raised. In commenting I wish to crave your
indulgence to compare what is happening now to what took place before.
This, I believe, will enable Nigerians see things in better perspective because
we must know where we are coming from so as to appreciate where we now are, and
to allow us clearly map out where we are going.
You raised concerns about the security situation in
the country. I assure you that I am fully aware of the responsibility of
government for ensuring the security of the lives and property of citizens. My
Administration is working assiduously to overcome current national security
challenges, the seeds of which were sown under previous administrations.
There have been some setbacks; but certainly there have also been great
successes in our efforts to overcome terrorism and insurgency.
Those
who continue to down-play our successes in this regard, amongst whom you must
now be numbered, appear to have conveniently forgotten the depths to which
security in our country had plunged before now.
At a
stage, almost the entire North-East of Nigeria was under siege by insurgents.
Bombings of churches and public buildings in the North and the federal capital
became an almost weekly occurrence. Our entire national security apparatus
seemed nonplussed and unable to come to grips with the new threat posed by the
berthing of terrorism on our shores.
But my administration has since brought that very
unacceptable situation under significant control. We have overhauled our entire
national security architecture, improved intelligence gathering, training,
funding, logistical support to our armed forces and security agencies, and
security collaboration with friendly countries with very visible and positive
results.
The
scope and impact of terrorist operations have been significantly reduced and
efforts are underway to restore full normalcy to the most affected North
Eastern region and initiate a post-crisis development agenda, including a
special intervention programme to boost the region’s socio-economic progress.
In doing all this, we have kept our doors open for
dialogue with the insurgents and their supporters through efforts such as the
work of the Presidential Committee on Dialogue and the Peaceful Resolution of
the Security Challenges in the North-East. You also know that the Governor of
Borno State provided the items you mentioned to me as carrots. Having done all
this and more, it is interesting that you still accuse me of not acting on your
hardly original recommendation that the carrot and stick option be deployed to
solve the Boko Haram problem.
Your
suggestion that we are pursuing a “war against violence without understanding
the root causes of the violence and applying solutions to deal with all the
underlying factors” is definitely misplaced because from the onset of this
administration, we have been implementing a multifaceted strategy against
militancy, insurgency and terrorism that includes poverty alleviation, economic
development, education and social reforms.
Even though basic education is the constitutional
responsibility of States, my administration has, as part of its efforts to
address ignorance and poor education which have been identified as two of the
factors responsible for making some of our youth easily available for use as
cannon fodder by insurgents and terrorists, committed huge funds to the
provision of modern basic education schools for the Almajiri in several
Northern States. The Federal Government under my leadership has also set up
nine additional universities in the Northern States and three in the Southern
States in keeping with my belief that proper education is the surest way of
emancipating and empowering our people.
More uncharitable persons may even see a touch of
sanctimoniousness in your new belief in the carrot and stick approach to
overcoming militancy and insurgency. You have always referred to how you hit
Odi in Bayelsa State to curb militancy in the Niger Delta. If the
invasion of Odi by the Army was the stick, I did not see the corresponding carrot.
I was the Deputy Governor of Bayelsa State then, and as I have always told you,
the invasion of Odi did not solve any militancy problem but, to some extent,
escalated it. If it had solved it, late President Yar’Adua would not have had
to come up with the amnesty program. And while some elements of the problem may
still be there, in general, the situation is reasonably better.
In terms of general insecurity in the country
and particularly the crisis in the Niger Delta, 2007 was one of the worst periods
in our history. You will recall three incidents that happened in 2007 which
seemed to have been orchestrated to achieve sinister objectives. Here in
Abuja, a petrol tanker loaded with explosives was to be rammed into the INEC
building. But luckily for the country, an electric pole stopped the tanker from
hitting the INEC building. It is clear that this incident was meant to
exploit the general sense of insecurity in the nation at the time to achieve
the aim of stopping the 2007 elections. It is instructive that you, on a
number of occasions, alluded to this fact.
When that incident failed, an armed group invaded
Yenagoa one evening with the intent to assassinate me. Luckily for me,
they could not. They again attacked and bombed my country home on a night
when I was expected in the village. Fortunately, as God would have it, I did
not make the trip.
I recall that immediately after both incidents, I got
calls expressing the concern of Abuja. But Baba, you know that despite
the apparent concern of Abuja, no single arrest was ever made. I was then the
Governor of Bayelsa State and the PDP Vice-Presidential candidate. The security
people ordinarily should have unraveled the assassination attempt on me.
You also raised the issues of kidnapping, piracy and
armed robbery. These are issues all Nigerians, including me are very concerned
about. While we will continue to do our utmost best to reduce all forms of
criminality to the barest minimum in our country, it is just as well to remind
you that the first major case of kidnapping for ransom took place around 2006.
And the Boko Haram crisis dates back to 2002. Goodluck Jonathan was not the
President of the country then. Also, armed robbery started in this country
immediately after the civil war and since then, it has been a problem to all
succeeding governments. For a former Head of Government, who should know
better, to present these problems as if they were creations of the Jonathan
Administration is most uncharitable.
Having said that, let me remind you of some of the
things we have done to curb violent crime in the country. We have reorganized
the Nigerian Police Force and appointed a more dynamic leadership to oversee
its affairs. We have also improved its manpower levels as well as funding, training
and logistical support.
We have also increased the surveillance capabilities
of the Police and provided its air-wing with thrice the number of helicopters
it had before the inception of the present administration. The National Civil
Defence and Security Corps has been armed to make it a much more effective ally
of the police and other security agencies in the war against violent crime. At
both domestic and international levels, we are doing everything possible to
curb the proliferation of the small arms and light weapons with which armed
robberies, kidnappings and piracy are perpetrated. We have also enhanced
security at our borders to curb cross-border crimes.
We are aggressively addressing the challenge of
crude oil theft in collaboration with the state Governors. In addition, the
Federal Government has engaged the British and US governments for their support
in the tracking of the proceeds from the purchase of stolen crude. Similarly, a
regional Gulf of Guinea security strategy has been initiated to curb crude oil
theft and piracy.
Perhaps the most invidious accusation in your letter
is the allegation that I have placed over one thousand Nigerians on a political
watch list, and that I am training snipers and other militia to assassinate people.
Baba, I don’t know where you got that from but you do me grave injustice in not
only lending credence to such baseless rumours, but also publicizing it. You
mentioned God seventeen times in your letter. Can you as a Christian hold the
Bible and say that you truly believe this allegation?
The allegation of training snipers to assassinate
political opponents is particularly incomprehensible to me. Since I started my
political career as a Deputy Governor, I have never been associated with any
form of political violence. I have been a President for over three years now,
with a lot of challenges and opposition mainly from the high and mighty. There
have certainly been cases of political assassination since the advent of our
Fourth Republic, but as you well know, none of them occurred under my
leadership.
Regarding the over one thousand people you say are on
a political watch list, I urge you to kindly tell Nigerians who they are and
what agencies of government are “watching” them. Your allegation that I am
using security operatives to harass people is also baseless. Nigerians are
waiting for your evidence of proof. That was an accusation made against
previous administrations, including yours, but it is certainly not my style and
will never be. Again, if you insist on the spurious claim that some of your
relatives and friends are being harassed, I urge you to name them and tell
Nigerians what agencies of my administration are harassing them.
I also find it difficult to believe that you will
accuse me of assisting murderers, or assigning a presidential delegation to
welcome a murderer. This is a most unconscionable and untrue allegation. It is
incumbent on me to remind you that I am fully conscious of the dictates of my
responsibilities to God and our dear nation. It is my hope that devious
elements will not take advantage of your baseless allegation to engage in
brazen and wanton assassination of high profile politicians as before, hiding
under the alibi your “open letter” has provided for them.
Nevertheless, I have directed the security agencies
and requested the National Human Rights Commission to carry out a thorough
investigation of these criminal allegations and make their findings public.
That corruption is an issue in Nigeria is indisputable.
It has been with us for many years. You will recall that your kinsman, the
renowned afro-beat maestro, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti famously sang about it during
your first stint as Head of State. Sonny Okosun also sang about corruption. And
as you may recall, a number of Army Generals were to be retired because of
corruption before the Dimka coup. Also, the late General Murtala Mohammed
himself wanted to retire some top people in his cabinet on corruption-related
issues before he was assassinated. Even in this Fourth Republic, the
Siemens and Halliburton scandals are well known.
The seed of corruption in this country was planted a
long time ago, but we are doing all that we can to drastically reduce its
debilitating effects on national development and progress. I have been
strengthening the institutions established to fight corruption. I will not
shield any government official or private individual involved in corruption,
but I must follow due process in all that I do. And whenever clear cases of
corruption or fraud have been established, my administration has always taken
prompt action in keeping with the dictates of extant laws and procedures. You
cannot claim to be unaware of the fact that several highly placed persons in
our country, including sons of some of our party leaders are currently facing
trial for their involvement in the celebrated subsidy scam affair. I can hardly
be blamed if the wheels of justice still grind very slowly in our country, but
we are doing our best to support and encourage the judiciary to quicken the
pace of adjudication in cases of corruption.
Baba, I am amazed that with all the knowledge garnered
from your many years at the highest level of governance in our country, you
could still believe the spurious allegation contained in a letter written to me
by the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), and surreptitiously
obtained by you, alleging that USD49.8 billion, a sum equal to our entire
national budget for two years, is “unaccounted for” by the NNPC. Since,
as President, you also served for many years as Minister of Petroleum
Resources, you very well know the workings of the corporation. It is therefore
intriguing that you have made such an assertion. You made a lot of insinuations
about oil theft, shady dealings at the NNPC and the NNPC not remitting the full
proceeds of oil sales to the of CBN. Now that the main source of the
allegations which you rehashed has publicly stated that he was “misconstrued”,
perhaps you will find it in your heart to apologize for misleading unwary
Nigerians and impugning the integrity of my administration on that score.
Your claim of “Atlantic Oil loading about 130, 000
barrels sold by Shell and managed on behalf of NPDC with no sale proceeds paid
into the NPDC account” is also disjointed and baseless because no such
arrangement as you described exists between Atlantic Oil and the Nigeria
Petroleum Development Company. NPDC currently produces about 138, 000 barrels
of oil per day from over 7 producing assets. The Crude Oil Marketing Division
(COMD) of the NNPC markets all of this production on behalf of NPDC with
proceeds paid into NPDC account.
I am really shocked that with all avenues open to you
as a former Head of State for the verification of any information you have
received about state affairs, you chose to go public with allegations of “high
corruption” without offering a shred of supporting evidence. One of your
political “sons” similarly alleged recently that he told me of a
minister who received a bribe of $250 Million from an oil company and I did
nothing about it. He may have been playing from a shared script, but we have
not heard from him again since he was challenged to name the minister involved
and provide the evidence to back his claim. I urge you, in
the same vein, to furnish me with the names, facts and figures of a single
verifiable case of the “high corruption” which you say stinks all around
my administration and see whether the corrective action you advocate does not
follow promptly. And while you are at it, you may also wish to tell Nigerians
the true story of questionable waivers of signature bonuses between 2000 and
2007.
While, by the Grace of God
Almighty, I am the first President from a minority group, I am never unmindful
of the fact that I was elected leader of the whole of Nigeria and I have always
acted in the best interest of all Nigerians. You referred to the divisive
actions and inflammatory utterances of some individuals from the South-South and
asserted that I have done nothing to call them to order or distance myself from
their ethnic chauvinism. Again that is very untrue. I am as committed to the
unity of this country as any patriot can be and I have publicly declared on
many occasions that no person who threatens other Nigerians or parts of the
country is acting on my behalf.
It is very regrettable that in your letter, you seem
to place sole responsibility for the ongoing intrigues and tensions in the PDP
at my doorstep, and going on from that position, you direct all your appeals
for a resolution at me. Baba, let us all be truthful to ourselves, God and
posterity. At the heart of all the current troubles in our party and the larger
polity is the unbridled jostling and positioning for personal or group
advantage ahead of the 2015 general elections. The “bitterness, anger,
mistrust, fear and deep suspicion” you wrote about all flow from this
singular factor.
It is indeed very
unfortunate that the seeming crisis in the party was instigated by a few senior
members of the party, including you. But, as leader of the party, I will
continue to do my best to unite it so that we can move forward with strength
and unity of purpose. The PDP has always recovered from previous crises with
renewed vigour and vitality. I am very optimistic that that will be the case
again this time. The PDP will overcome any temporary setback, remain a strong
party and even grow stronger.
Instigating people to cause
problems and disaffection within the party is something that you are certainly
familiar with. You will recall that founding fathers of the Party were
frustrated out of the Party at a time. Late Chief Sunday Awoniyi was
pushed out, Late Chief Solomon Lar left and later came back, Chief Audu Ogbeh
and Chief Tom Ikimi also left. Chief Okwesilieze Nwodo left and later came
back. In 2005/2006, link-men were sent to take over party structures from PDP
Governors in an unveiled attempt to undermine the state governors. In spite of
that, the Governors did not leave the Party because nobody instigated and
encouraged them to do so.
The
charge that I was involved in anti-party activities in governorship elections
in Edo, Ondo, Lagos, and Anambra States is also very unfortunate. I relate with
all Governors irrespective of political party affiliation but I have not worked
against the interest of the PDP. What I have not done is to influence the
electoral process to favour our Party. You were definitely never so inclined,
since you openly boasted in your letter of how you supported Alhaji Shehu
Shagari against Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Chief Nnamdi Azikiwe and others in the
1979 presidential elections while serving as a military Head of State. You and
I clearly differ in this regard, because as the President of Nigeria, I believe
it is my duty and responsibility to create a level playing field for all
parties and all candidates.
Recalling how the PDP lost in states where we were
very strong in 2003 and 2007 such as Edo, Ondo, Imo, Bauchi, Anambra, and
Borno, longstanding members of our great party with good memory will also
consider the charge of anti-party activities you made against me as misdirected
and hugely hypocritical. It certainly was not Goodluck Jonathan’s “personal
ambition or selfish interest” that caused the PDP to lose the governorship
of Ogun State and all its senatorial seats in the last general elections.
You
quoted me as saying that I have not told anybody that I will seek another term
in office in 2015. You and your ambitious acolytes within the party have
clearly decided to act on your conclusion that “only a fool will believe
that statement” and embark on a virulent campaign to harass me out of an
undeclared candidature for the 2015 presidential elections so as to pave the
way for a successor anointed by you.
You
will recall that you serially advised me that we should refrain from discussing
the 2015 general elections for now so as not to distract elected public
officials from urgent task of governance. While you have apparently moved away
from that position, I am still of the considered opinion that it would have
been best for us to do all that is necessary to refrain from heating up the
polity at this time. Accordingly, I have already informed Nigerians that I will
only speak on whether or not I will seek a second term when it is time for such
declarations. Your claims about discussions I had with you, Governor Gabriel
Suswam and others are wrong, but in keeping with my declared stance, I will
reserve further comments until the appropriate time.
Your allegation that I asked half a dozen African
Presidents to speak to you about my alleged ambition for 2015, is also
untrue. I have never requested any African President to discuss with you
on my behalf. In our discussion, I mentioned to you that four Presidents
told me that they were concerned about the political situation in Nigeria and
intended to talk to you about it. So far, only three of them have
confirmed to me that they have had any discussion with you. If I made such a
request, why would I deny it?
The
issue of Buruji Kashamu is one of those lies that should not be associated with
a former President. The allegation that I am imposing Kashamu on the
South-West is most unfortunate and regrettable. I do not even impose
Party officials in my home state of Bayelsa and there is no zone in this
country where I have imposed officials. So why would I do so in the South
West? Baba, in the light of Buruji’s detailed public response to your “open
letter”, it will be charitable for you to render an apology to Nigerians and I.
On the issue of investors being scared to come to
Nigeria, economic dormancy, and stagnation, I will just refer you to FDI
statistics from 2000 to 2013. Within the last three years, Nigeria has emerged
as the preferred destination for investments in Africa, driven by successful
government policies to attract foreign investors. For the second year running,
the United Nations Conference on Trade and Investments (UNCTAD) has ranked
Nigeria as the number one destination for investments in Africa, and as having
the fourth highest returns in the world.
Today, Nigeria is holding 18 percent of all foreign
investments in Africa and 60 percent of all foreign investments in the ECOWAS
Sub-Region. Kindly note also that in the seven years between 2000 and 2007 when
you were President, Nigeria attracted a total of $24.9 Billion in FDI. As
a result of our efforts which you disparage, the country has seen an FDI inflow
of $25.7 Billion in just three years which is more than double the FDI that has
gone to the second highest African destination. We have also maintained an
annual national economic growth rate of close to seven per cent since the
inception of this administration. What then, is the justification for your
allegation of scared investors and economic dormancy?
Although
it was not emphasized in your letter of December 2, 2013, you also conveyed, in
previous correspondence, the impression that you were ignorant of the very notable
achievements of my administration in the area of foreign relations. It is on
record that under my leadership, Nigeria has played a key role in resolving the
conflicts in Niger, Cote d’Ivoire, Mali, Guinea Bissau and others.
The
unproductive rivalry that existed between Nigeria and some ECOWAS countries has
also been ended under my watch and Nigeria now has better relations with all
the ECOWAS countries. At the African Union, we now have a Commissioner at
the AU Commission after being without one for so long. We were in the United
Nations Security Council for the 2010/2011 Session and we have been voted in
again for the 2014/2015 Session. From independence to 2010, we were in the U.N.
Security Council only three times but from 2010 to 2015, we will be there two
times.
This did not happen by chance. My Administration
worked hard for it and we continue to maintain the best possible relations with
all centres of global political and economic power. I find it hard therefore,
to believe your assertions of untoward concern in the international community
over the state of governance in Nigeria
With
respect to the Brass and Olokola LNG projects, you may have forgotten that
though you started these projects, Final Investment Decisions were never
reached. For your information, NNPC has not withdrawn from either the
Olokola or the Brass LNG projects.
On the Rivers State Water Project, you were misled by
your informant. The Federal Government under my watch has never directed or
instructed the Africa Development Bank to put on hold any project to be
executed in Rivers state or any other State within the Federation. The Rivers
Water Project was not originally in the borrowing plan but it was included in
April 2013 and appraised in May. Negotiations are ongoing with the AfDB.
I have no doubt that you are familiar with the entire process that prefaces the
signing of a Subsidiary Loan Agreement as in this instance.
Let me assure you and all Nigerians that I do not
engage in negative political actions and will never, as President, oppress the
people of a State or deprive them of much needed public services as a result of
political disagreement
I have noted your comments on the proposed National
Conference. Contrary to the insinuation in your letter, the proposed conference
is aimed at bringing Nigerians together to resolve contentious national issues
in a formal setting. This is a sure way of promoting greater national consensus
and unity, and not a recipe for “disunity, confusion and chaos” as you
alleged in your letter.
Having twice held the high office of President,
Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, I
trust that you will understand that I cannot possibly find the time to offer a
line-by-line response to all the accusations and allegations made in your
letter while dealing with other pressing demands of office and more urgent
affairs of state.
I have tried, however, to respond to only the most
serious of the charges which question my sincerity, personal honour, and
commitment to the oath which I have sworn, to always uphold and protect the
interests of all Nigerians, and promote their well-being.
In closing, let me state that you have done me grave
injustice with your public letter in which you wrongfully accused me of deceit,
deception, dishonesty, incompetence, clannishness, divisiveness and
insincerity, amongst other ills.
I have not, myself, ever claimed to be all-knowing or
infallible, but I have never taken Nigeria or Nigerians for granted as you
implied, and I will continue to do my utmost to steer our ship of state towards
the brighter future to which we all aspire.
Please accept the assurances of my highest
consideration and warm regards.
GOODLUCK EBELE
JONATHAN
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