Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has said that the need to fight against corrupt practices under the present government was one of the reasons for his recent open letter to President Muhammadu Buhari.
In the controversial letter, Obasanjo had pointed at many lapses in the Buhari administration, asking the President not to contest again come next year.
Speaking in an interview with Deutsche Welle, a German international broadcaster, Obasanjo said Buhari, rather than look inwards to fight corruption in his government, was busy looking outward.
“I would say he was probably looking outside; he wasn’t looking inside, because if you are fighting corruption and corruption is becoming rife, then you also have to turn your attention inwards. There is no point in fighting corruption beyond you while you have corruption in front of your nose,” he said.
OBJ similarly lamented that Nigeria’s perception of Buhari four years ago was far different from what they think of him these days, stressing that the President had lost the popularity he once enjoyed.
The former President said he was not bothered about accusation that nobody could satisfy him, especially with reference to how he wrote a similar letter condemning the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan.
He said, “With the benefit of hindsight, if you knew what had happened and what had been revealed about the government of Jonathan and those who were with him, in terms of sordid corruption, you would agree with me, that this was the right decision.
“I believe it was a decision that was good at that time for our country and our democracy. Because, we were able to transit from one party to another. As a result of that, we are consolidating on the democratic process.
“It is also the right decision now, for us to see that the man who took over from Jonathan (Buhari) has not met the expectation of Nigerians; that’s what democracy is all about. Democracy is about change. But if you think that is not the right decision, then you are not a
democrat.”
“But I am a democrat and tomorrow, if I take a decision and things don’t work out the way we expect them to work out in a democracy, then you make a change,” he defended.
He insisted that his Coalition Movement for Nigeria was not a political organisation, stressing that he would quit the group once it transmutes to a political organisation or party.
He also denied that the opposition Peoples Democratic Party was the driving force for the Coalition, saying, “There are thousands of Nigerians inside Nigeria and outside Nigeria who have never been in politics and are members of this movement. It’s not old wine in a new bottle. It’s new wine in a new
bottle.”
Obasanjo also dismissed those who saw him as arrogant and as having a feeling of being the only one with monopoly of wisdom on Nigerians’ affairs.
For those levelling such accusations, he said, “I won’t answer them; I will reserve it as my right as a Nigerian.”
