Buhari explains why he didn’t punch back at Obasanjo

Four months after former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s ‘letter’ to President Muhammadu Buhari listing his alleged failures and advising him not to seek re-election in the 2019 polls, the president responded last night in Bauchi state.

Many in Nigeria had thought the president would respond with withering scorn but he has given reasons why he did not reply or allow his aides to make a direct response to former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s ‘letter’ to him chronicling his alleged failures and advising him not to seek re-election in the 2019 polls.

“Tonight, I want to remind the people of what Lai Mohammed, Minister of Information did against my wish, in the sense that when a letter was written containing our failures as an administration, Lai Mohammed agitated that he should reply and I said no, the president said.

“I said no for two reasons: He is much younger than the person who wrote the letter and myself; two, he is from the same constituency as the person who wrote the letter.

“But when Lai Mohammed came, I said he should go out but he said he won’t go. I asked why and he said let me give him a chance to say what he wanted to do. I said go on.

“He said in what he would do, he would not mention names but only try to remind Nigerians what the country was when we came in, where we are now, and what we have done with the resources available to us.

“Eventually, I had to admit that he was right and I was wrong because a number of people who could get in touch with me have said that Lai had done a good job. A lot of them are in the media who I don’t have time to see – but of course, they are very busy people. Therefore, I am very happy with the performance of our party, the All Progressive Congress.”