FULL TEXT OF JONATHAN'S REPLY TO OBASANJO'S CONTROVERSIAL LETTER

Full Text of Jonathan’s
Response to Obasanjo’s Controversial
Letter
December 20th 2013
His Excellency,
Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, GCFR
Agbe L’Oba House, Quarry Road,
Ibara, Abeokuta.
RE: BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE
I wish to formally acknowledge your letter
dated December 2, 2013 and other
previous correspondence similar to it.
You will recall that all the letters were
brought to me by hand. Although both of
us discussed some of the issues in those
letters, I had not, before now, seen the
need for any formal reply since, to me,
they contained advice from a former
President to a serving President.
Obviously, you felt differently because in
your last letter, you complained about my
not acknowledging or replying your
previous letters.
It is with the greatest possible reluctance
that I now write this reply. I am most
uneasy about embarking on this
unprecedented and unconventional form
of open communication between me and
a former leader of our country because I
know that there are more acceptable and
dignified means of doing so.
But I feel obliged to reply your letter for
a number of reasons: one, you formally
requested for a reply and not sending you
one will be interpreted as ignoring a
former President.
Secondly, Nigerians know the role you
have played in my political life and given
the unfortunate tone of your letter,
clearly, the grapes have gone sour.
Therefore, my side of the story also needs
to be told.
The third reason why I must reply you in
writing is that your letter is clearly a
threat to national security as it may
deliberately or inadvertently set the stage
for subversion.
The fourth reason for this reply is that
you raised very weighty issues, and since
the letter has been made public,
Nigerians are expressing legitimate
concerns. A response from me therefore,
becomes very necessary.
The fifth reason is that this letter may
appear in biographies and other books
which political commentators on Nigeria’s
contemporary politics may write. It is
only proper for such publications to
include my comments on the issues
raised in your letter.
Sixthly, you are very unique in terms of
the governance of this country. You were
a military Head of State for three years
and eight months, and an elected
President for eight years. That means you
have been the Head of Government of
Nigeria for about twelve years. This must
have, presumably, exposed you to a lot of
information. Thus when you make a
statement, there is the tendency for
people to take it seriously.
The seventh reason is that the timing of
your letter coincided with other vicious
releases. The Speaker of the House of
Representatives spoke of my “body
language” encouraging corruption. A
letter written to me by the CBN
Governor alleging that NNPC, within a
period of 19 months did not remit the
sum of USD49.8 billion to the federation
account, was also deliberately leaked to
the public.
The eighth reason is that it appears that
your letter was designed to incite
Nigerians from other geopolitical zones
against me and also calculated to promote
ethnic disharmony. Worse still, your letter
was designed to instigate members of our
Party, the PDP, against me.
The ninth reason is that your letter
conveys to me the feeling that landmines
have been laid for me. Therefore,
Nigerians need to have my response to
the issues raised before the mines
explode.
The tenth and final reason why my reply
is inevitable is that you have written
similar letters and made public comments
in reference to all former Presidents and
Heads of Government starting from Alhaji
Shehu Shagari and these have instigated
different actions and reactions. The
purpose and direction of your letter is
distinctly ominous, and before it is too
late, my clarifications on the issues need
to be placed on record.
Let me now comment on the issues you
raised. In commenting I wish to crave
your indulgence to compare what is
happening now to what took place before.
This, I believe, will enable Nigerians see
things in better perspective because we
must know where we are coming from so
as to appreciate where we now are, and
to allow us clearly map out where we are
going.
You raised concerns about the security
situation in the country. I assure you that
I am fully aware of the responsibility of
government for ensuring the security of
the lives and property of citizens. My
Administration is working assiduously to
overcome current national security
challenges, the seeds of which were sown
under previous administrations. There
have been some setbacks; but certainly
there have also been great successes in
our efforts to overcome terrorism and
insurgency.
Those who continue to down-play our
successes in this regard, amongst whom
you must now be numbered, appear to
have conveniently forgotten the depths to
which security in our country had plunged
before now.
At a stage, almost the entire North-East
of Nigeria was under siege by insurgents.
Bombings of churches and public buildings
in the North and the federal capital
became an almost weekly occurrence.
Our entire national security apparatus
seemed nonplussed and unable to come
to grips with the new threat posed by the
berthing of terrorism on our shores.
But my administration has since brought
that very unacceptable situation under
significant control. We have overhauled
our entire national security architecture,
improved intelligence gathering, training,
funding, logistical support to our armed
forces and security agencies, and security
collaboration with friendly countries with
very visible and positive results.
The scope and impact of terrorist
operations have been significantly
reduced and efforts are underway to
restore full normalcy to the most affected
North Eastern region and initiate a post-
crisis development agenda, including a
special intervention programme to boost
the region’s socio-economic progress.
In doing all this, we have kept our doors
open for dialogue with the insurgents and
their supporters through efforts such as
the work of the Presidential Committee
on Dialogue and the Peaceful Resolution
of the Security Challenges in the North-
East. You also know that the Governor of
Borno State provided the items you
mentioned to me as carrots. Having done
all this and more, it is interesting that you
still accuse me of not acting on your
hardly original recommendation that the
carrot and stick option be deployed to
solve the Boko Haram problem.
Your suggestion that we are pursuing a
“war against violence without
understanding the root causes of the
violence and applying solutions to deal
with all the underlying factors” is
definitely misplaced because from the
onset of this administration, we have
been implementing a multifaceted
strategy against militancy, insurgency and
terrorism that includes poverty
alleviation, economic development,
education and social reforms.
Even though basic education is the
constitutional responsibility of States, my
administration has, as part of its efforts to
address ignorance and poor education
which have been identified as two of the
factors responsible for making some of
our youth easily available for use as
cannon fodder by insurgents and
terrorists, committed huge funds to the
provision of modern basic education
schools for the Almajiri in several
Northern States. The Federal Government
under my leadership has also set up nine
additional universities in the Northern
States and three in the Southern States in
keeping with my belief that proper
education is the surest way of
emancipating and empowering our
people.
More uncharitable persons may even see
a touch of sanctimoniousness in your new
belief in the carrot and stick approach to
overcoming militancy and insurgency. You
have always referred to how you hit Odi
in Bayelsa State to curb militancy in the
Niger Delta. If the invasion of Odi by the
Army was the stick, I did not see the
corresponding carrot. I was the Deputy
Governor of Bayelsa State then, and as I
have always told you, the invasion of Odi
did not solve any militancy problem but,
to some extent, escalated it. If it had
solved it, late President Yar’Adua would
not have had to come up with the
amnesty program. And while some
elements of the problem may still be
there, in general, the situation is
reasonably better.
In terms of general insecurity in the
country and particularly the crisis in the
Niger Delta, 2007 was one of the worst
periods in our history. You will recall
three incidents that happened in 2007
which seemed to have been orchestrated
to achieve sinister objectives. Here in
Abuja, a petrol tanker loaded with
explosives was to be rammed into the
INEC building. But luckily for the country,
an electric pole stopped the tanker from
hitting the INEC building. It is clear that
this incident was meant to exploit the
general sense of insecurity in the nation
at the time to achieve the aim of stopping
the 2007 elections. It is instructive that
you, on a number of occasions, alluded to
this fact.
When that incident failed, an armed group
invaded Yenagoa one evening with the
intent to assassinate me. Luckily for me,
they could not. They again attacked and
bombed my country home on a night
when I was expected in the village.
Fortunately, as God would have it, I did
not make the trip.
I recall that immediately after both
incidents, I got calls expressing the
concern of Abuja. But Baba, you know
that despite the apparent concern of
Abuja, no single arrest was ever made. I
was then the Governor of Bayelsa State
and the PDP Vice-Presidential candidate.
The security people ordinarily should have
unraveled the assassination attempt on
me.
You also raised the issues of kidnapping,
piracy and armed robbery. These are
issues all Nigerians, including me are very
concerned about. While we will continue
to do our utmost best to reduce all forms
of criminality to the barest minimum in
our country, it is just as well to remind
you that the first major case of kidnapping
for ransom took place around 2006. And
the Boko Haram crisis dates back to 2002.
Goodluck Jonathan was not the President
of the country then. Also, armed robbery
started in this country immediately after
the civil war and since then, it has been a
problem to all succeeding governments.
For a former Head of Government, who
should know better, to present these
problems as if they were creations of the
Jonathan Administration is most
uncharitable.
Having said that, let me remind you of
some of the things we have done to curb
violent crime in the country. We have
reorganized the Nigerian Police Force and
appointed a more dynamic leadership to
oversee its affairs. We have also
improved its manpower levels as well as
funding, training and logistical support.
We have also increased the surveillance
capabilities of the Police and provided its
air-wing with thrice the number of
helicopters it had before the inception of
the present administration. The National
Civil Defence and Security Corps has been
armed to make it a much more effective
ally of the police and other security
agencies in the war against violent crime.
At both domestic and international levels,
we are doing everything possible to curb
the proliferation of the small arms and
light weapons with which armed
robberies, kidnappings and piracy are
perpetrated. We have also enhanced
security at our borders to curb cross-
border crimes.
We are aggressively addressing the
challenge of crude oil theft in
collaboration with the state Governors. In
addition, the Federal Government has
engaged the British and US governments
for their support in the tracking of the
proceeds from the purchase of stolen
crude. Similarly, a regional Gulf of Guinea
security strategy has been initiated to
curb crude oil theft and piracy.
Perhaps the most invidious accusation in
your letter is the allegation that I have
placed over one thousand Nigerians on a
political watch list, and that I am training
snipers and other militia to assassinate
people. Baba, I don’t know where you
got that from but you do me grave
injustice in not only lending credence to
such baseless rumours, but also
publicizing it. You mentioned God
seventeen times in your letter. Can you
as a Christian hold the Bible and say that
you truly believe this allegation?
The allegation of training snipers to
assassinate political opponents is
particularly incomprehensible to me.
Since I started my political career as a
Deputy Governor, I have never been
associated with any form of political
violence. I have been a President for over
three years now, with a lot of challenges
and opposition mainly from the high and
mighty. There have certainly been cases
of political assassination since the advent
of our Fourth Republic, but as you well
know, none of them occurred under my
leadership.
Regarding the over one thousand people
you say are on a political watch list, I urge
you to kindly tell Nigerians who they are
and what agencies of government are
“watching” them. Your allegation that I
am using security operatives to harass
people is also baseless. Nigerians are
waiting for your evidence of proof. That
was an accusation made against previous
administrations, including yours, but it is
certainly not my style and will never be.
Again, if you insist on the spurious claim
that some of your relatives and friends
are being harassed, I urge you to name
them and tell Nigerians what agencies of
my administration are harassing them.
I also find it difficult to believe that you
will accuse me of assisting murderers, or
assigning a presidential delegation to
welcome a murderer. This is a most
unconscionable and untrue allegation. It
is incumbent on me to remind you that I
am fully conscious of the dictates of my
responsibilities to God and our dear
nation. It is my hope that devious
elements will not take advantage of your
baseless allegation to engage in brazen
and wanton assassination of high profile
politicians as before, hiding under the alibi
your “open letter” has provided for them.
Nevertheless, I have directed the security
agencies and requested the National
Human Rights Commission to carry out a
thorough investigation of these criminal
allegations and make their findings public.
That corruption is an issue in Nigeria is
indisputable. It has been with us for
many years. You will recall that your
kinsman, the renowned afro-beat
maestro, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti famously
sang about it during your first stint as
Head of State. Sonny Okosun also sang
about corruption. And as you may recall, a
number of Army Generals were to be
retired because of corruption before the
Dimka coup. Also, the late General
Murtala Mohammed himself wanted to
retire some top people in his cabinet on
corruption-related issues before he was
assassinated. Even in this Fourth Republic,
the Siemens and Halliburton scandals are
well known.
The seed of corruption in this country was
planted a long time ago, but we are doing
all that we can to drastically reduce its
debilitating effects on national
development and progress. I have been
strengthening the institutions established
to fight corruption. I will not shield any
government official or private individual
involved in corruption, but I must follow
due process in all that I do. And
whenever clear cases of corruption or
fraud have been established, my
administration has always taken prompt
action in keeping with the dictates of
extant laws and procedures. You cannot
claim to be unaware of the fact that
several highly placed persons in our
country, including sons of some of our
party leaders are currently facing trial for
their involvement in the celebrated
subsidy scam affair. I can hardly be
blamed if the wheels of justice still grind
very slowly in our country, but we are
doing our best to support and encourage
the judiciary to quicken the pace of
adjudication in cases of corruption.
Baba, I am amazed that with all the
knowledge garnered from your many
years at the highest level of governance
in our country, you could still believe the
spurious allegation contained in a letter
written to me by the Governor of the
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), and
surreptitiously obtained by you, alleging
that USD49.8 billion, a sum equal to our
entire national budget for two years, is
“unaccounted for” by the NNPC. Since, as
President, you also served for many years
as Minister of Petroleum Resources, you
very well know the workings of the
corporation. It is therefore intriguing that
you have made such an assertion. You
made a lot of insinuations about oil theft,
shady dealings at the NNPC and the
NNPC not remitting the full proceeds of
oil sales to the of CBN. Now that the
main source of the allegations which you
rehashed has publicly stated that he was
“misconstrued”, perhaps you will find it in
your heart to apologize for misleading
unwary Nigerians and impugning the
integrity of my administration on that
score.
Your claim of “Atlantic Oil loading about
130, 000 barrels sold by Shell and
managed on behalf of NPDC with no sale
proceeds paid into the NPDC account” is
also disjointed and baseless because no
such arrangement as you described exists
between Atlantic Oil and the Nigeria
Petroleum Development Company. NPDC
currently produces about 138, 000 barrels
of oil per day from over 7 producing
assets. The Crude Oil Marketing Division
(COMD) of the NNPC markets all of this
production on behalf of NPDC with
proceeds paid into NPDC account.
I am really shocked that with all avenues
open to you as a former Head of State for
the verification of any information you
have received about state affairs, you
chose to go public with allegations of
“high corruption” without offering a shred
of supporting evidence. One of your
political “sons” similarly alleged recently
that he told me of a minister who
received a bribe of $250 Million from an
oil company and I did nothing about it.
He may have been playing from a shared
script, but we have not heard from him
again since he was challenged to name
the minister involved and provide the
evidence to back his claim. I urge you, in
the same vein, to furnish me with the
names, facts and figures of a single
verifiable case of the “high corruption”
which you say stinks all around my
administration and see whether the
corrective action you advocate does not
follow promptly. And while you are at it,
you may also wish to tell Nigerians the
true story of questionable waivers of
signature bonuses between 2000 and
2007.
While, by the Grace of God Almighty, I am
the first President from a minority group,
I am never unmindful of the fact that I
was elected leader of the whole of Nigeria
and I have always acted in the best
interest of all Nigerians. You referred to
the divisive actions and inflammatory
utterances of some individuals from the
South-South and asserted that I have
done nothing to call them to order or
distance myself from their ethnic
chauvinism. Again that is very untrue. I
am as committed to the unity of this
country as any patriot can be and I have
publicly declared on many occasions that
no person who threatens other Nigerians
or parts of the country is acting on my
behalf.
It is very regrettable that in your letter,
you seem to place sole responsibility for
the ongoing intrigues and tensions in the
PDP at my doorstep, and going on from
that position, you direct all your appeals
for a resolution at me. Baba, let us all be
truthful to ourselves, God and posterity.
At the heart of all the current troubles in
our party and the larger polity is the
unbridled jostling and positioning for
personal or group advantage ahead of the
2015 general elections. The “bitterness,
anger, mistrust, fear and deep suspicion”
you wrote about all flow from this
singular factor.
It is indeed very unfortunate that the
seeming crisis in the party was instigated
by a few senior members of the party,
including you. But, as leader of the party,
I will continue to do my best to unite it
so that we can move forward with
strength and unity of purpose. The PDP
has always recovered from previous crises
with renewed vigour and vitality. I am
very optimistic that that will be the case
again this time. The PDP will overcome
any temporary setback, remain a strong
party and even grow stronger.
Instigating people to cause problems and
disaffection within the party is something
that you are certainly familiar with. You
will recall that founding fathers of the
Party were frustrated out of the Party at a
time. Late Chief Sunday Awoniyi was
pushed out, Late Chief Solomon Lar left
and later came back, Chief Audu Ogbeh
and Chief Tom Ikimi also left. Chief
Okwesilieze Nwodo left and later came
back. In 2005/2006, link-men were sent
to take over party structures from PDP
Governors in an unveiled attempt to
undermine the state governors. In spite
of that, the Governors did not leave the
Party because nobody instigated and
encouraged them to do so.
The charge that I was involved in anti-
party activities in governorship elections
in Edo, Ondo, Lagos, and Anambra States
is also very unfortunate. I relate with all
Governors irrespective of political party
affiliation but I have not worked against
the interest of the PDP. What I have not
done is to influence the electoral process
to favour our Party. You were definitely
never so inclined, since you openly
boasted in your letter of how you
supported Alhaji Shehu Shagari against
Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Chief Nnamdi
Azikiwe and others in the 1979
presidential elections while serving as a
military Head of State. You and I clearly
differ in this regard, because as the
President of Nigeria, I believe it is my
duty and responsibility to create a level
playing field for all parties and all
candidates.
Recalling how the PDP lost in states
where we were very strong in 2003 and
2007 such as Edo, Ondo, Imo, Bauchi,
Anambra, and Borno, longstanding
members of our great party with good
memory will also consider the charge of
anti-party activities you made against me
as misdirected and hugely hypocritical. It
certainly was not Goodluck Jonathan’s
“personal ambition or selfish interest”
that caused the PDP to lose the
governorship of Ogun State and all its
senatorial seats in the last general
elections.
You quoted me as saying that I have not
told anybody that I will seek another term
in office in 2015. You and your ambitious
acolytes within the party have clearly
decided to act on your conclusion that
“only a fool will believe that statement”
and embark on a virulent campaign to
harass me out of an undeclared
candidature for the 2015 presidential
elections so as to pave the way for a
successor anointed by you.
You will recall that you serially advised
me that we should refrain from discussing
the 2015 general elections for now so as
not to distract elected public officials from
urgent task of governance. While you
have apparently moved away from that
position, I am still of the considered
opinion that it would have been best for
us to do all that is necessary to refrain
from heating up the polity at this time.
Accordingly, I have already informed
Nigerians that I will only speak on
whether or not I will seek a second term
when it is time for such declarations. Your
claims about discussions I had with you,
Governor Gabriel Suswam and others are
wrong, but in keeping with my declared
stance, I will reserve further comments
until the appropriate time.
Your allegation that I asked half a dozen
African Presidents to speak to you about
my alleged ambition for 2015, is also
untrue. I have never requested any
African President to discuss with you on
my behalf. In our discussion, I mentioned
to you that four Presidents told me that
they were concerned about the political
situation in Nigeria and intended to talk
to you about it. So far, only three of them
have confirmed to me that they have had
any discussion with you. If I made such a
request, why would I deny it?
The issue of Buruji Kashamu is one of
those lies that should not be associated
with a former President. The allegation
that I am imposing Kashamu on the
South-West is most unfortunate and
regrettable. I do not even impose Party
officials in my home state of Bayelsa and
there is no zone in this country where I
have imposed officials. So why would I do
so in the South West? Baba, in the light of
Buruji’s detailed public response to your
“open letter”, it will be charitable for you
to render an apology to Nigerians and I.
On the issue of investors being scared to
come to Nigeria, economic dormancy, and
stagnation, I will just refer you to FDI
statistics from 2000 to 2013. Within the
last three years, Nigeria has emerged as
the preferred destination for investments
in Africa, driven by successful government
policies to attract foreign investors. For
the second year running, the United
Nations Conference on Trade and
Investments (UNCTAD) has ranked
Nigeria as the number one destination for
investments in Africa, and as having the
fourth highest returns in the world.
Today, Nigeria is holding 18 percent of all
foreign investments in Africa and 60
percent of all foreign investments in the
ECOWAS Sub-Region. Kindly note also
that in the seven years between 2000
and 2007 when you were President,
Nigeria attracted a total of $24.9 Billion in
FDI. As a result of our efforts which you
disparage, the country has seen an FDI
inflow of $25.7 Billion in just three years
which is more than double the FDI that
has gone to the second highest African
destination. We have also maintained an
annual national economic growth rate of
close to seven per cent since the
inception of this administration. What
then, is the justification for your
allegation of scared investors and
economic dormancy?
Although it was not emphasized in your
letter of December 2, 2013, you also
conveyed, in previous correspondence,
the impression that you were ignorant of
the very notable achievements of my
administration in the area of foreign
relations. It is on record that under my
leadership, Nigeria has played a key role
in resolving the conflicts in Niger, Cote
d’Ivoire, Mali, Guinea Bissau and others.
The unproductive rivalry that existed
between Nigeria and some ECOWAS
countries has also been ended under my
watch and Nigeria now has better
relations with all the ECOWAS countries.
At the African Union, we now have a
Commissioner at the AU Commission
after being without one for so long. We
were in the United Nations Security
Council for the 2010/2011 Session and
we have been voted in again for the
2014/2015 Session. From independence
to 2010, we were in the U.N. Security
Council only three times but from 2010
to 2015, we will be there two times.
This did not happen by chance. My
Administration worked hard for it and we
continue to maintain the best possible
relations with all centres of global political
and economic power. I find it hard
therefore, to believe your assertions of
untoward concern in the international
community over the state of governance
in Nigeria
With respect to the Brass and Olokola
LNG projects, you may have forgotten
that though you started these projects,
Final Investment Decisions were never
reached. For your information, NNPC has
not withdrawn from either the Olokola or
the Brass LNG projects.
On the Rivers State Water Project, you
were misled by your informant. The
Federal Government under my watch has
never directed or instructed the Africa
Development Bank to put on hold any
project to be executed in Rivers state or
any other State within the Federation.
The Rivers Water Project was not
originally in the borrowing plan but it was
included in April 2013 and appraised in
May. Negotiations are ongoing with the
AfDB. I have no doubt that you are
familiar with the entire process that
prefaces the signing of a Subsidiary Loan
Agreement as in this instance.
Let me assure you and all Nigerians that I
do not engage in negative political actions
and will never, as President, oppress the
people of a State or deprive them of
much needed public services as a result of
political disagreement
I have noted your comments on the
proposed National Conference. Contrary
to the insinuation in your letter, the
proposed conference is aimed at bringing
Nigerians together to resolve contentious
national issues in a formal setting. This is
a sure way of promoting greater national
consensus and unity, and not a recipe for
“disunity, confusion and chaos” as you
alleged in your letter.
Having twice held the high office of
President, Commander-In-Chief of the
Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of
Nigeria, I trust that you will understand
that I cannot possibly find the time to
offer a line-by-line response to all the
accusations and allegations made in your
letter while dealing with other pressing
demands of office and more urgent affairs
of state.
I have tried, however, to respond to only
the most serious of the charges which
question my sincerity, personal honour,
and commitment to the oath which I
have sworn, to always uphold and protect
the interests of all Nigerians, and
promote their well-being.
In closing, let me state that you have
done me grave injustice with your public
letter in which you wrongfully accused me
of deceit, deception, dishonesty,
incompetence, clannishness, divisiveness
and insincerity, amongst other ills.
I have not, myself, ever claimed to be all-
knowing or infallible, but I have never
taken Nigeria or Nigerians for granted as
you implied, and I will continue to do my
utmost to steer our ship of state towards
the brighter future to which we all aspire.
Please accept the assurances of my
highest consideration and warm regards.
GOODLUCK EBELE JONATHAN