Minister to Obasanjo: You’re ignorant, thrives on falsehood against Buhari

*Says only APC can stop Buhari from running

The Minister of Communications, Mr Adebayo Shittu, has lambasted former President Olusegun Obasanjo for exhibiting ignorance of the achievements of the federal government and “churning out falsehood” against President Muhammadu Buhari.

Shittu, who spoke on Monday while briefing State House correspondents at the Aso Rock Villa in Abuja, insisted that only the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) can stop Buhari from seeking reelection in 2019.

Obasanjo had last week issued a damning statement on the Buhari administration and advised him not to seek reelection in 2019. He also accused the President of underperformance and engaging in nepotism.

But Shittu has faulted the claims of Obasanjo, saying that as a minister for two years under Buhari’s administration, he considered it a patriotic duty to speak to Nigerians on a number of issues “that have been trending, particularly in the South West and generally in the country”.

He added that he was speaking personally and as an APC member, because “the federal government had not been talking enough.”

The minister further said, “Obasanjo as a Nigerian has the right to hold an opinion. If Obasanjo holds an opinion that Mr. President has performed less than it should be, those of us who are in the position to know better have a right to also state the other side which perhaps Obasanjo is ignorant of.

“You see, there are some people who enjoy engaging in sensationalism. With due respect to General Obasanjo, if you take his history over the last 30 years, there is hardly any regime other than his own that he did not criticise, except Sani Abacha, who didn’t wait for Obasanjo to criticise him before he was sent to the gulag.

“So many Nigerians know that Obasanjo enjoys this type of sensationalisation. In any case, no matter what impression you have of me, do you have a right to tell me not to contest an election? I mean we should talk like people who are educated, who know our left from the right.”

Shittu also said that Obasanjo was taking advantage of the modesty of the Buhari administration, saying that there is the need to situate the issues in proper context.

The minister said, “We believe in modesty, we do not believe in propaganda. Unfortunately enemies of this government, particularly people who perhaps feel they have lost out in the new dispensation have been churning out false information, blackmail and all kinds of baseless accusations, particularly of non-performance of the government.

“I am talking here not as the spokesperson of the government but as an individual, a leader of APC from Oyo State, who also is a member of this government, having been minister of communications.

“I believe as an active participant in political and governmental affairs, I have a duty to the government and to myself and I believe to all Nigerians that we have to correct a lot of misinformation and blackmail that is out there by people who ordinarily deserve respect but who for reason of clanishness, for reason of tribalism; for reasons of religious bigotry and intolerance have decided to see and not to ask questions about what is going on in the country.

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Shittu also said contrary to the widespread information, the Buhari government has performed better that the PDP which was in power for 16 years.

According to him , Buhari’s administration has performed better in agriculture, housing and power.

The Minister said that only the ruling APC can stop Buhari from seeking re-election.

He said, “There are procedures for elections. President Buhari is a member of the APC and the APC has its rules and regulations as to how candidates will emerge.

“If members of the party feel that the president has not performed well enough, it is for them to show that during the primary election. It’s not for anybody to shortchange Nigerians and prevent people from offering themselves for an election.

“In any case, since Obasanjo is no more a member of our party, with due respect to him, it doesn’t lie in his mouth to tell us who among our party members or leaders to contest or not to contest. I think Nigerians should concede this privilege to (we) the members of APC to decide the fate of Mr. President when the next round of primaries come.”