Obasanjo's Letter: PDM Wants Allegations Against President Jonathan Investigated

BEVERLY HILLS, CA, December 16, (THEWILL) -  The Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM) has called on the National Assembly to discharge its duty and responsibility to the nation by compelling President Goodluck Jonathan to offer an immediate response to the allegations levelled against him in the letter written to him by former President Olusegun Obasanjo. 'We call on the National Assembly to fully and painstakingly investigate these allegations beginning by asking the President to fully explain himself and absolve himself of them, failing which it should commence impeachment proceedings against him,'' PDM said in  a statement issued on Monday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Ahmadu Rufai Abubakar. The party said: ''We read with consternation and disbelief the open letter addressed to President Goodluck Jonathan by former president Olusegun Obasanjo, which was released to the media last week. The allegations contained in the said letter are earth-shaking and troubling to say the least. ' In the letter, the former president made the following specific allegations against President Jonathan and the government he leads: 'That the President is driven by personal and political interests in the manner he runs his government and the country (p.2), 'That the President engages in deceit and deception in respect of his unstated aspiration to stand for re-election in 2015 (p.3), 'That the President had made a commitment to several people to serve only a single term and would not need any more term or time after that (p.3), 'That the President had traded-in PDP governorship candidates in Anambra, Edo, Ondo and other states in the South West using, in one instance, material inducement, in exchange for support for his past and future presidential aspirations (pp. 5 & 6) 'That the President had sought the help of half a dozen African leaders to get former President Obasanjo to intervene in the PDP crisis and later denied doing so (p.7), 'That the President has reduced himself to an ethnic jingoist who condones and encourages the misuse and manipulation of ethnic sentiment to divide the country (p.9) ' That the President maintains a political watch list of 1,000 citizens, facilitates the training of snipers in a foreign country as well as the acquisition of arms for the purpose of assassination of political opponents (p.9), 'That the President undermined the law by facilitating the discharge of an accused murderer and organizing a welcome party for him, for the possible purpose of using him to eliminate political opponents (p.10), 'That the President is aiding and abetting corruption and oil theft, knows who the oil thieves are and knows who they are working for (pp.11 & 12) ' That there is non-remittance of about $7 billion of proceeds from crude oil sales by the NNPC to CBN, which the letter written to the President by the Governor of CBN in September on the subject matter also raised (p.11) ' That the President is responsible for grounding the Port Harcourt water project as a result of his political face-off with the Governor of Rivers State (p.12), ' That the President plans to abuse and misuse the military and security forces for personal and political interests (p.13) and, finally, ' That the President keeps the company of a drug trafficker who is doing his political bidding in the South West (p.15 & 16).'' PDM described the allegations as grave and weighty , saying  it  read  ''with deep disappointment, the President's response or, better still, his non-response to these allegations, through his media aide.'' According to PDM, ' The decision of the President to ignore these allegations, for now, is quite troubling and unfortunate. More than that, it is totally inexplicable and unacceptable that the leader of our nation can assume that the nation can wait until such a time he feels the need to explain these grave allegations, some of which border on treason. ' By his decision not to respond to these allegations immediately, the President is keeping Nigeria and Nigerians in unnecessary and dangerous suspense. Nigerians have a right to know the truth about these allegations, especially those impacting on his job as president immediately, not when the President chooses to respond. 'It is not a matter of choice, it is a matter of duty for the President to respond immediately, failing which his government loses the legitimacy to continue to govern and he loses the moral right to continue to lead the country. ' We at Peoples Democratic Movement, view this decision by the President to defer a timely response seriously. We feel it is an abdication of duty and responsibility and it undermines the integrity of the office he occupies. It threatens the unity, peace and political stability of the nation. ' In view of the above, the Peoples Democratic Movement calls on the National Assembly to discharge its duty and responsibility to the nation by compelling the President to offer an immediate response to the allegations levelled against him in the letter written to him by former President Olusegun Obasanjo.'' The party therefore called on the National Assembly ' to fully and painstakingly investigate these allegations beginning by asking the President to fully explain himself and absolve himself of them, failing which it should commence impeachment proceedings against him.'' PDM stated further: ' We have noticed a familiar pattern of response from the Presidency since the letter under reference was placed in the public domain. Instead of addressing the issues which the letter raised, the person of former President Obasanjo has come under virulent media attack. Conflating the message with the messenger will not make the message go away. 'This tactic belongs, in this instance, to the realm of political theatre and constitutes an assault on the intelligence of Nigerians who can only be assuaged by a cogent response to the issues, not politicising them. 'There is a time and place for politics and a time and place for statesmanship. The President is well advised to understand the difference. We call on the President to rise to the occasion and not hide behind the thin wall of ambiguity and suspense. ' If the President cannot defend himself of these allegations, he should come clean and openly say so instead of resorting to the dubious tactic of non response. ' If he cannot defend himself against these grave allegations, levelled against him by no less a personality than one of his predecessors who had occupied the office twice and longer than any before him, a person who knows fully the implications of what he says, there is no reason why Nigerians should trust the President a day longer than necessary with the fate of their country. In which case, he should either promptly resign or be impeached.''