Former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Thursday refuted allegations his open letter to President Muhammadu Buhari is rooted in malice. Obasanjo said his deep concern for the nation prompted his letter which only seeks to give advice which Buhari might heed or not.
He said this while at the secretariat of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Oke-Ilewo area of Abeokuta, for the launch and his registration with the Coalition for Nigeria Movement in Ogun state. The Coalition Movement of Nigeria had on Wednesday being launched in Abuja.
Obasanjo, who was accompanied by former governors of Cross River and Osun states, Donald Duke and Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola respectively, waved away questions raised after pictures of him exchanging pleasantries with President Buhari at the African Unity summit at Addis Ababa, surfaced just a few days after his explosive letter.
He said, "Last week, I issued a statement which I did not do lightly or frivolously but out of deep concern for the situation of our country.“I wonder why some Nigerians were worried why I had to pay respect to the Nigerian President at Addis Ababa. That’s my own upbringing as a well-born and bred Yoruba boy.
"That doesn’t mean that what I have said about the President, which I did not say out of bitterness and hatred. It is evidence that the President has performed, in some areas, good enough. "In other areas not good and a proper advice which he may take and he may not take. "I didn’t do that out of malice or out of bad belle; I did it out of my respect for that office and my interest and I hope in your interest and the interest of Buhari in Nigeria.”
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