The Presidency yesterday issued an angry rebuttal to the constant criticisms by former President Olusegun Obasanjo on President Goodluck Jonathan, calling the ex-leader ‘confused’.
The Special Adviser to the President on Political Matters, Alhaji Ahmed Gulak, made the remark in response to newspaper reports yesterday which quoted the former president blaming the Jonathan administration for the state of insecurity in the country.
Gulak said that Obasanjo was a man that should be ignored by Nigerians, as his comments were either borne out of ignorance or outright mischief, but the intention is to confuse the people and distract the Presidency from delivering on its promise to Nigerians.
The presidential aide added that the security problem in the country at the moment was inherited by the Jonathan administration after it had started during Obasanjo’s presidency and peaked during Yar’adua’s time. Thus, he said that it was wrong for Obasanjo or any other Nigerian to accuse Jonathan for not tackling the security challenges head on, saying the President was doing his best to solve the crisis.
Describing Boko Haram as an international security threat with roots abroad, Gulak pointed out that the federal administration had shown the will and capacity to deal with the situation the way it should be.
“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,” he said.
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”.