Former lawmaker, Senator Rowland Owie, on Wednesday in Benin City, Edo State, advised President-elect, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd.) to avoid former President Olusegun Obasanjo, as a plague if he desires to succeed as Nigeria’s leader.
Owie, who gave the advice in a statement, said that “To Buhari I thank God for you, but you must deliver on your promises and also build on what President Jonathan did.
Above all you must run far from OBJ! (Olusegun Obasanjo). If he can’t control your government, he will fight you.
“He has done it to all former Presidents of Nigeria and even against MKO Abiola who was not sworn in. Never! Never! I say never discuss with OBJ unless you have at least two of your aides present!”
Expatiating on Obasanjo’s capacity for mischief to to achieve his goal, Owie recalled that “Half way into the tenure of President Goodluck Jonathan, a man who sees nothing good in anybody, except himself, Obasanjo, started trouble making by naming presidential and vice-presidential candidates.
“First it was Gov. Sule Lamido as president and Gov. Rotimi Amaechi as his Deputy! A respectable Lamido, a founding father of PDP while OBJ was in prison was being urged to fight PDP.
“OBJ lured most PDP governors in the North into rebellion against PDP to destroy the platform that gave all of them relevance, including OBJ. The hate mood in the North for this election against Jonathan was such that, any candidate from the North would have won the election.
“The anger was that power must return to the North. Nigerians can see that rebellion against one’s own and betrayer of one’s party doesn’t pay.
“Gov. Aliyu Babangìda of Niger State, who led the rebellion against Jonathan and the PDP, lost his election to the Senate and also lost his state”, he added.
The former lawmaker congratulated Nigerians and Jonathan over the peaceful polls and expressed gratitude to God for annulling the various doomsday prophesies uttered against the country prior to the elections.
“I congratulate Nigerians for their commitment to democracy and particularly, congratulate President Goodluck Jonathan for choosing to go the Way of The Cross, by quickly conceding defeat in this election which averted the impending chaos that would have enveloped the nation.
“Only those who believe in God and live life that protects his or her live and also value life. No child born in the street, lives on the street permantly without parental love, can keep life.
“Nigeria would have been burning now particularly in the North. Keen observers of events in Nigeria since the 2011 general elections, will agree that the Boko Haram activities escalated in Nigeria when the President was elected.
“Innocent citizens, mainly Christians, were murdered and churches burnt down. Why? Yes! Politicians and non-politicians, mainly in the North, believed that a Northerner should have replaced Jonathan in 2011 to continue with the late Yar’Adua’s tenure.”
He therefore called on PDP members across the country to “wake up so that we can all rebuild PDP. When Our Lord Jesus Christ was crucified and buried on the Good Friday, nobody, apart from the mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary, knew that Christ would rise from the grave on the third day. PDP shall rise again”, he added.
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