The Secretary General of Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Mr. Anthony Sani, has lashed out at Obasanjo stating that he lacked conviction.
This was in reaction to the former President’s endorsement of Atiku Abubakar as President, someone with whom he was on very sour terms with.
Sani noted that as an elder statesman, Obasanjo is expected to be an embodiment of national ideals and moral values for the nation
He stated that the former President showed none of this as he instead showed inconsistency in his decisions, tearing up his PDP card and claiming not to be involved in partisan politics only for him to do exactly that.
Sani also claimed that with all the mind changing that Obasanjo is exhibiting, there is still a possibility that he could change his mind about Atiku again.
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Sani said: “It is democracy in action which at once confirms the saying that the only thing that is permanent in politics is interest; no permanent friends or enemies.
“If you consider what the former President has written about his former Vice President Abubakar Atiku to the extent of saying God would not forgive him if he endorsed Atiku for president, then you can hardly avoid the conclusion that common decency is yet to take root in our democracy, especially when regard is paid to the place of the former president in the order of things in Nigeria.
“President Obasanjo is a statesman who is expected to be an embodiment of national ideals and moral values for the nation. But the way he has conducted himself by tearing his PDP card and saying he would no more play partisan politics and forming a movement which he said is third force only for him to convert it to a political party of ADC, culminating in the endorsement of former VP Atiku reeks of inconsistency that comes with dearth of vision and conviction required of statesmen.
“That may explain why most Nigerians may be curt and dismissive of the former president out of fear that he is just like a reed who can change his mind before the day of elections in 2019.”
On the question of whether the North would go along with Obasanjo’s endorsement of Atiku, Sani said: “It is not possible for the whole North to be with former President Obasanjo in that endorsement precisely because the former Vice President is a major challenger of the incumbent President who is also a Northerner and a Hausa/Fulani Muslim.
“As a result, politics of identity as symbolised by ethnicity, religion and of region would give way for those of real issues of real concern to real ordinary Northerners and by extension Nigerians.”