The letter of a former Nigerian President, Olusegun Obasanjo, to President Goodluck Jonathan is almost treasonable and capable of inciting Nigerians against the president, a public affairs analyst, Mr Chris Akiri has said.
He advised President Jonathan to call Obasanjo to order, insisting that there should be no sacred cow before the law.
“When a man of that height writes that kind of letter, inciting the public to rebellion against the present administration, it is almost treasonable.
“And whether he was a former president or not he should be called to order.
“Former Presidents, Prime Ministers or Heads of State, in all over the world have gone to jail and some others have been executed,” Mr Akiri said on Channels Television’s programme, Sunrise Daily, on Friday.
He insisted that the former president did not have the moral right to convey the message contained in the letter.
“No known Heads of State in Nigeria could write that kind of letter against the present president,” he pointed out laying credence to the fact that they are all guilty of all allegations contained in the letter.
Mr Akiri said that the letter was in a bad state and accused Obasanjo of transferring sovereignty, which should belong to the people, to himself.
“Why must Obasanjo say he has installed two presidents? It means he has taken the sovereignty that belongs to the people,” Mr. Akiri, who is also a lawyer, said.
Comparing issues that were witnessed during Obasanjo’s regime and those he outlined in his 18-page letter entitled ‘Before It Is Too Late,’ as it relates to Jonathan’s regime, Mr Akiri insisted that the country also witnessed grave issues during Obasanjo’s regime.
“Obasanjo said in the letter that when you have insecurity situation in a country it demands stick and carrot approach. When confronted with a similar situation during his regime, Obasanjo adopted an approach that was far different from the carrot-and-stick approach. What was the carrot approach in the Odi killing and Zaki-Biam Killing in Benue State in 2001? He questioned.
Contradicting Obasanjo’s claim that Jonathan told him he would not come for a second term, Mr Akiri said that Jonathan had all constitutional right to contest in 2015.
“In 1998 when Obasanjo was released from prison, the trio of Ibrahim Babangida, General T.Y. Danjuma and Atiku Abubakar met him at Ota that he will be the president.
“The agreement was that Atiku Abubakar will take over after his first term. Obasanjo said that he will only stay for one term to serve as a cross between the military and civilian governments.
“In between, Obasanjo insisted on a second term, claiming that ‘well-wishers’ insisted that he should contest for a second term.
“After second term he wanted to do third term and wasted billions of Naira in this country with the National Assembly to amend the constitution for him to be allowed a third term.
“All that he blames Jonathan for equally occurred during his regime,” He said.
On issue of corruption, he said that the government of Jonathan was either not doing anything or was paying a lip service on the issue.
Mr Akiri insisted that both Obasanjo and Jonathan were guilty of not doing enough in the fight against corruption.
He also pointed out that the letter could not have been leaked because it was already an open letter.
“Sending a copy of the letter to some other persons made the letter an open letter and in law, an open letter is meant for the public,” he added.
