Insisting that he was not at war with
Jonathan, Obasanjo said he was unfazed by the letter written to him by Clark
and the rantings and abuse by the President’s aides.
The Ijaw national leader had in his letter
dated January 3, described the former President as an unrepentant troublemaker,
liar and manipulator.
In the 10-page letter titled, ‘Let The Truth
Be Told Before It Is Too Late, Clark said, “Mr. former President, I will also
like to use the language of your daughter, Iyabo, to describe you to Nigerians.
“You are ‘a liar, manipulator, two-faced
hypocrite…. You have egoistic craving for power and live a life only men of low
self-esteem and intellect thrive.”
But Oladunjoye said that Obasanjo was not
disturbed by insults and abuses being hauled at him because of the December 2,
2013 letter to Jonathan.
The media aide said, “I was with him
(Obasanjo) this (Tuesday) morning in Abeokuta for about five hours. He received
some visitors. He was full of life. He was in high spirits. He was playing Ayo
game. He bears no one no grudge.
“After being with him for about five hours,
he told me, ‘Tunde I want to go and sleep.’ That means he has not lost sleep,
regardless of abuse, rantings and insults. If I am to use his words, I will
tell you that Baba still dey kampe.”
On the plan by the PDP’s BoT to settle the
rift between Obasanjo and Jonathan, he said that the ex-President had received
the BoT members in the past, adding that he was ready to receive them again.
Oladunjoye said, “I want to tell you that
Chief Obasanjo is not at war with anybody, including President Jonathan.
“He has always maintained that his doors are
open to all Nigerians, regardless of political affiliations. If members of the
BoT decide to visit him, it will not be the first time. If he is in the
country, he will receive them.”
Meanwhile, the governing board of the
National Human Rights Commission will meet not later than two weeks from now to
consider major issues before the body.
One of the issues is a memo from the
Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Muhammad Adoke
(SAN), asking for an investigation into Obasanjo’s letter.
Adoke had in the December 23 memo addressed
to the Executive Secretary of the NHRC, Prof. Bem Angwe, requested the
commission to investigate the allegations bordering on human rights violations
contained on pages 9 to 10 of the letter.
The commission’s chairman, Prof. Chidi
Odinkalu, told one of our correspondents on Tuesday, that the board had yet to
meet over the memo because some members travelled abroad.
He said, “I want to ensure that everything is
done under the authority of the council. That is what we proposed to do. We
will meet not later than two weeks from now. Some of our members are not in the
country.”
Odinkalu also debunked insinuations that the
commission had received a contrary order from the Presidency not to investigate
the letter again because the PDP wanted an amicable resolution between Obasanjo
and Jonathan.
Besides, he explained that the NHRC was an
independent commission not subject to the control of the President.
Odinkalu said, “To begin with, we have not
received anything from the President. What we have received is a referral from
the office of the AGF on a matter of public interest. It is important for
people to understand.
“Our rules provide for possibilities of
receiving referrals from the AGF, state Attorneys-General or high courts. What
we are dealing with is well provided for in our rules.”
Referring to Section 6(3) of the NHRC Act
2010, Odinkalu maintained that the commission was not under the directive or
control of the President.
The section provides that, “In exercising its
functions and powers under this Act, the commission shall not be subject to the
direction or control of any other authority or person.”
In the memo, Adoke had asked the commission
to investigate the allegations snipers were being trained by the government to
terminate the lives of Jonathan’s political opponents.
According to source the security agents had
not begun investigations into Obasanjo’s allegations.
A senior police officer confided in one of
our correspondents in Abuja that the police did not have record of
investigations of the allegations made by Obasanjo.
The officer described the issues as political
which, according to him, will be resolved by the parties concerned.
He said, “Do we have any record of such an
investigation of Obasanjo’s allegations? I will say we don’t have such
information with us. In any case, there is no way we can investigate the former
President and those close to him would not know. Such an investigation cannot
be hidden and the police will have to comment on it publicly if it is true, but
for now, no information or record on any probe against Obasanjo.”
The Force Public Relations Officer, Frank
Mba, could not be reached for comments as he did not respond to calls to his
telephone. He also did not respond to a text message sent to him.
All bull
ReplyDeleteAbami eda, u no fit loose sleep, dey play ayo no send jare.
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