Obasanjo’s letter: PDP members urge govs to speak out

Goodluck Jonathan and Olusegun Obasanjo

Peoples Democratic Party supporters   in the   North-West on Monday urged the party’s  governors to speak up on the issues raised by   former President Olusegun Obasanjo in his letter to President Goodluck Jonathan.

The supporters,  under the aegis of the North-West Solidarity Forum, said the PDP governors’  continued silence on the issues was worrisome.

The Zonal Leader of the forum, Alhaji Abubakar Danfulani, said this in a statement  made available to journalists in Abuja.

They said  there was a need for the governors to take steps to reconcile the two leading figures in the party.

In the  statement  titled,“Obasanjo’s letter: Where are the PDP governors?”  the  forum  members said they were  concerned  because  the 18-page letter “borders on issues of governance and exposes details of such other issues which should not have been meant for the public space.”

They also said they were concerned about the motivation behind the declassification of the letter by Chief Obasanjo.

The statement reads in part, “The silence in the camp of the PDP governors is worrisome to us. It gives the forum the impression that the governors may be sympathetic to the cause of Chief Obasanjo since he was said to have been responsible for the election of no fewer than 18 out of the 23 of them (out of which five have   defected to the All Progressives Congress).

“But is that enough reason to keep mute and stand the risk of being complicit in the grand plan by the former President to expose the underbelly of the   Jonathan’s administration to attacks by the opposition elements?

 “At this point, the PDP governors who believe in the survival of the Federal Government and the PDP cannot afford to sit on the fence or keep mute.”

Also, the Bishop of Anglican Communion Nigeria, Ife Diocese, Oluranti Odubogun, on Monday said President Jonathan must respond to the various issues raised in Obasanjo’s letter.

Odubogun argued that the controversial letter had made the political climate hotter and there was need for Jonathan to clear the air on most of the issues raised.

The cleric, who spoke during the church’s ordination service, described the allegations as “too weighty for the President to keep silence on.”

He said, “Whatever the issues are, President Jonathan must respond to all the allegations. The man has gone public and has made allegations. Is it true that over a 1,000 names are on his list? Are we back to the dark ages of Abacha regime? Some other things are true: bad governance, corruption. These are truism; everyone can see it.

“Nigerians have continued to suffer under the yoke of bad governance and no one who has been in governance can absolve himself from the state in which we are today.”

The cleric pleaded with the President not to throw the country deeper into a state of chaos and insecurity by his “self-serving aides” who are out to protect their selfish interest rather than the nation.

“The National Assembly cannot absolve itself from the pandemic corruption that is causing the nation to bleed; this has led the entire nation into captivity. But if the path of liberation of this country is in the confusion that is ensuing, so be it and glory be to God,” he added.