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Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan has stated that despite sustained attacks on him by former President Olusegun Obasanjo, the Otta born General still remains his father and he remains a political son.
(Cover picture: Obasanjo and Jonathan at Femi Otedola father’s burial at Epe, Lagos on June 3, 2014
In a move that signals the peak of his sustained attacks on the Goodluck Jonathan led Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Federal Government, Obasanjo has pulled a theatrical stunt openly and brazenly tearing his PDP membership cards to shreds saying that National interest is paramount to him than party affiliation.
While responding to questions from THISDAY in an interview in Lagos, President Jonathan said he has no issues with Obasanjo.
The President said, “First and foremost, Obasanjo is a father to me.
“By divine providence and the grace of God, I am the President of Nigeria today. It is not by my strength. But God uses human beings to actualise His own blessings on human beings. And He used so many Nigerians, including former President Obasanjo, to play one role or the other for me.
“I became the deputy governor of a state, became the governor, the vice president and president. I have no issues with him, and I really don’t want to join issues with President Obasanjo.
I think it is not necessary. But I will use this opportunity, because you asked, to just plead with my father that he is a leader, a former president of the country. He has led the country more than anybody, eight years of democratic governance and almost four years of military governance.
“No other person has that kind of record. The stability of this country is critical in terms of the economy of this country. Rating agencies downgrade countries that are going into elections because the feeling is that there would be crisis.
“When you paint the colour of instability for your own nation, you are doing so much injustice to the country because it affects the economy of the country, not just affecting the country in terms of security and social issues alone. It affects the economy directly.
“So, I plead with very senior citizens that Nigeria is dear to us; we don’t have any other country than Nigeria. So, actions and inactions, or utterances, should be guarded so that we don’t expose our country to the international community as if it is a country in danger, a country that is about to collapse.
“You are frightening investors, especially those who invest hot cash, to pull out their money from the country and that would affect the stock market and it would affect the economy. For one reason or the other, Obasanjo may disagree with me as his first political son.
“You can even disagree with your own biological children, as a human being, not to talk of disagreeing with your political children. So, he can agree or disagree with me, but the utterances have to be managed in a way that it does not affect the economy and security of this country,” he said.
On how he felt watching Chief Obasanjo destroy his PDP membership card on the television, Jonathan said the incident had no effect on him because the attacks had been consistent
