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
