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A South-West Political Group, the Conscience Bureau (CB) on Monday asked Nigerians not to be wary of former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s endorsement of the Labour Party presidential candidate, Mr. Peter Obi.
The group charged Nigerians not to be swayed by such an endorsement, said it could lead the nation to a shipwreck just like in 2015 when the former president endorsed President Muhammadu Buhari who was the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate at the time.
The group however declared that only the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Abubakar Atiku, can be trusted with the onerous task of salvaging Nigeria at this period.
The group recalled that Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, acting on his premonition, had said that Obasanjo’s endorsement of Buhari’s presidential ambition on December 13, 2013 could lead the nation to a shipwreck.
The APC led by Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and its other leaders had sought and got Obasanjo’s endorsement of Buhari at the time.
General secretary of Conscience Bureau, Mr. Said Ologuneru, however said that going by what Nigerians have experienced between 2015 and now, under the APC Presidency, it is apparent that Nigeria experienced a shipwreck, as Soyinka predicted.
He noted that Soyinka’s warning, which Nigerians refused to heed in 2015, eventually led the country into troubled waters as evident in the country’s ailing economy, growing insecurity and hardship faced by Nigerians today.
He further cautioned Nigerians against a repeat of that horrible experience.
“We are under no illusion therefore that Obi’s endorsement by Obasanjo this time is tottering on the same lane as when the APC designated Obasanjo as its navigator in 2013, a development which Prof. Soyinka described as heading for a shipwreck.”
The group added that only a shipwreck could take the Nigerian Naira from N190 to one US dollar in 2015 to N780 in 2022 or a litre of petrol from N85 in 2015 to N350 in December 2022.
He charged Nigerians to reject any attempt to perpetuate the APC’s continued reign beyond 2023.
“As widely reported by the national newspapers in Nigeria on December 23, 2013, the Nobel Laureate, Prof. Soyinka, had noted that Nigeria might be heading for a “shipwreck” after the APC said it was choosing Chief Obasanjo as its “Navigator” in its touted effort to wrest power from then President Goodluck Jonathan in 2015.
“As nature had it, the “Navigator” led the APC into Aso Rock Villa, and President Muhammadu Buhari replaced Goodluck Jonathan. Today, we all are witnesses to the wreckage the nation’s ship had experienced,” the group said.
It warned that it is important for the electorate to save the country from another shipwreck ahead of the 2023 general election, saying that Nigerians must look beyond the APC, which Obasanjo endorsed in the past and Peter Obi, as both cannot help the country in its present state.
According to the Conscience Bureau, the huge challenges now facing the country after eight years of Obasanjo-recommended administration should be an admonition to Nigerians not to follow another sentimental endorsement from the former president, just as they should not allow individuals such as Tinubu, who brought Buhari’s misguided administration upon Nigeria, to take the saddle of leadership.
The group charged the electorate to save Nigeria by electing the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, whom it described as possessing the wealth of experience and know-how that can transform the country and halt its fast-paced traffic towards the edge of the precipice.
The group said: “It is curious that the same Tinubu, who led Buhari and other leaders of the newly-formed All Progressives Congress (APC) to Abeokuta in 2013, to consult former President Obasanjo, describing him as the ‘Navigator’ and the ‘political compass’ of APC’s false attempt to rescue Nigeria, could turn around to describe Obasanjo’s take on the Nigerian polity as ‘worthless and meaningless.’
“Nigerians have to be wary of Tinubu, APC and Obasanjo, who colluded in 2015 to bring the clueless APC administration and the resultant hardship upon the country.
“This time round, Obasanjo has endorsed Obi, but he appears to be working secretly to foist the APC on Nigerians, in an avowed commitment to lead Nigeria to destruction.
“Atiku represents Nigeria’s best opportunity to get out of the economic doldrums. He remains the best and most prepared candidate on offer.
“The former Vice-President represents the best opportunity for Nigeria to exit the economic woes foisted on it through Obasanjo’s miscalculated endorsement in 2013, which brought in General Buhari, and the only way APC would not continue in office beyond May 2023.
“The Conscience Bureau recalls that Tinubu had, in 2013, told Obasanjo that he and APC leaders were in Abeokuta because of Obasanjo’s courage and that to realise a stable Nigeria, they had resolved to make him their Navigator.
“It is hilarious that the same Tinubu could rubbish Obasanjo’s presumed courage at this time and his choice of Obi. The whole development points to the error of judgment and double standard of both Obasanjo and APC. They both cannot be trusted to salvage Nigeria at this auspicious period.”
The group further wondered how Obasanjo could allow emotions to cloud his judgment at this period when all hands are supposed to be on deck in the task of retaking Nigeria from the APC buccaneers, saying: “It is curious how Baba Obasanjo could even say he is endorsing Peter Obi. This was the Obi that could not run the Anambra State chapter of the PDP. Is that not another ploy to pave the way for Tinubu, who designated him as a navigator in 2013?
“In the last governorship election in Anambra State, Obi was given the leadership of the party and instead of going for a popular candidate, he went for a rookie and lost woefully, which was why he was yanked off the leadership of the party ahead of the 2022 national convention.
“It’s also a clear signal that he failed to learn from his experiment that brought Willie Obiano, the man he imposed on Anambra as governor, who eventually turned his policies upside down and became his arch enemy. So, that tells a lot about his experience and the choices he will make if elected to higher office.”
Source: Leadership
