Former president Olusegun Obasanjo says Nigeria, under the leadership of Buhari is back to the Abacha era when state institutions were used to fight perceived enemies of the head of state.
Sani Abacha, a general, was the military head of state from November 1993 till his death in June 1998 and was accused of using dictatorial powers to rule the country.
Obasanjo made the remark in an open letter titled ‘Points for Concern and Action’ distributed to journalists at a press conference held on Sunday at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, Abeokuta, Ogun state.
The letter said: “Today, another Abacha Era is here. The security institutions are being misused to fight all critics and opponents of Buhari and to derail our fledgling democracy. EFCC, Police and Code of Conduct Tribunal are also being equally misused to deal with those Buhari sees as enemies for criticising him or as those who may not do his bidding in manipulating election results.
“Criticism, choice and being different are inherent trade mark of democracy. If democracy is derailed or aborted, anarchy and authoritarianism will automatically follow.
“Today, as in the day of Abacha, Nigerians must rise up and do what they did in the time of Abacha. Churches and Mosques prayed. International community stood by us Nigerians. I was a beneficiary and my life was saved. Well-meaning Nigerians took appropriate actions and made sacrifices, some supreme, some less than supreme but God had the final say and He took the ultimate action.”
Abacha jailed Obasanjo for an alleged coup plot, in 1995 but was released in 1998 after the death of the military ruler.
The former President also raised concern over the coming elections and said he believes the APC government is already making plans to rig the coming election, citing the recent election in Osun as an example.
He didn’t ;eave Osinbajo out too. He accused the Vice-President of having a sinister motive in respect of the timing and implementation of the Trader Moni scheme.
He said:
“What an act by a Senior Advocate of Nigeria lawyer, number 2 man in the Executive hierarchy; and what is more, a pastor of one of the Christian movements led by a revered, respected and upright church leader, Pastor E. A. Adeboye. Osinbajo must have gone for, “if you can’t beat them, join them”.
“A great pity indeed and which makes people ask the questions, “Any hope?” Yes, for me, there is hope.
“Osinbajo has shown the human weakness and proved the saying that the corruption of the best is the worst form of corruption. His explanation that it was their government programme can only be construed to be very shallow and lopsided, if not an outrightly idiotic programme.
“Those who criticise the action are called evil but they are not evil as they know what they are doing and saying, and they love Nigeria and Nigerians not less than the likes of Osinbajo. They are not devils incarnate; they are patriots.
“What is the connection between taking the number of PVC (Permanent Voters Card) of the recipient of the N10,000 doled out to ‘traders’ and the forthcoming election? There is something sinister about it, and Professor Osinbajo, of all people, should know that.”
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