BY VINCENT UJUMADU
AWKA—REACTIONS have continued to trail the controversial letter written to President Goodluck Jonathan by his predecessor, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, with the national chairman of All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, Chief Victor Umeh, urging former to ignore the latter.
Speaking weekend in Awka, Umeh said Obasanjo should not misinterpret the President’s humility as weakness, arguing that he, Obasanjo, ought to be in jail for sundry crimes against humanity, citing Odi and Zakibiam massacres as examples.
Umeh said Obasanjo’s letter was a confirmation of the heavy blow his administration dealt on democracy when election rigging and manipulations were used to muscle out opposition parties.
He recalled that APGA suffered the same terrible fate in 2003 when its victory was given to PDP, adding that it took three years of legal battle to reclaim the mandate.
Umeh said Nigerians should also hold Obasanjo responsible for the present woes of the country, noting that he allegedly bungled very bright opportunity of re-positioning and launching the country on course for sustainable greatness during his regime.
According to Umeh, instead of uniting the country on assumption of office in 1999, the former President embarked on a war of hatred against Ndigbo and continued to undermine their growth and welfare.
“Obasanjo continued to promote ethnic and religion differences, that resulted in wholesale violence and loss of lives that qualified him to be tried for crime against humanity,” he said.
He also observed that under the former President, corruption and impunity became a way of life in the country when a privileged few enjoyed monopoly on economic powers..
He made it clear that Obasanjo had no positive reference point or legacy for the people of Nigeria and should, therefore, not be taken seriously, noting in particular billions of dollars squandered by his regime on the power sector without any positive result to show for it, as well as the huge resources wasted in pursuit of his third term bid.
Umeh urged Jonathan to continue his dedicated and commendable service of building enduring democratic institutions that allow Nigerians to elect leaders of their choice without undue influence from the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.
Vanguard