Investigations has revealed that the thinking in government circles is that former President Olusegun Obasanjo is not sincere in his widely-publicised plan to intervene in the rescue of the over 200 schoolgirls abducted from Chibok, Borno State.
Obasanjo was reported earlier as saying that he had links with Boko Haram, the group responsible for insurgency in the country, and that he needed a go-ahead from the Federal Government before intervening. Although the Presidency had said it was open to any intervention by anybody that could lead to the rescue of the girls, Obasanjo granted another interview recently, saying he had yet to receive government’s go-ahead.
However, a top Presidency source, who pleaded not to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue, told one of our correspondents in Abuja on Tuesday, that Obasanjo was not sincere in his claims. The source said the former President had yet to approach President Goodluck Jonathan on the matter despite the fact that he had an unfettered access to him. He added that what further showed the insincerity in Obasanjo’s claims was his absence on two occasions last week during events that he could have used to approach the President if he did not want to speak with him one-on-one.
The source said, “The truth of the matter is that Chief Obasanjo is not sincere in his claim and the government would no longer be drawn into a media war with him no matter the provocation. It will interest you to know that he has not approached the President on the matter despite the interviews he has been granting on the matter. Just last week, there was an All Political Parties Summit on Security attended by the President in Abuja, Chief Obasanjo was invited but he did not show up.”
“You will also recall that President Jonathan, later in the day, also met with former leaders inside the Presidential Villa on the security situation in the country. Again, Chief Obasanjo did not attend that meeting. All these are pointers to the fact that the former leader is not sincere in his claims.”
Vanguard