Obasanjo, Yar’Adua, Jonathan, presided over near destruction of Nigeria ― Buhari

 

The Nigerian President, Muhammadu Buhari, in his presidential speech to mark the 60th Independence of the nation shaded his predecessors claiming they presided over the near destruction of the country. Buhari in his speech also boasted that “no government in the past did what we are doing with such scarce resources” and that “we have managed to keep things going in spite of the disproportionate spending on security.”

In his attack on previous governments, Buhari said; “Those in the previous Governments from 1999 – 2015 who presided over the near destruction of the country have now the impudence to attempt to criticize our efforts”. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo served as the Nigerian president between 1999 and 2007 on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Umaru Musa Yar’Adua succeeded Obasanjo in 2007 but was unable to complete his first term tenure. He died in office 5th May 2010.

Goodluck Ebele Jonathan who was the vice to Yar’Adua was sworn in as the president 6th May, 2010 following the demise of Yar’Adua. He also won the 2011 presidential election and served till 2015. Jonathan was defeated by the President Muhammadu Buhari in the 2015 election on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC). He will later win the 2019 election to serve the second term. Obasanjo is known to be a strong critic of governments that succeeded him. 

The ex-president in 2013 wrote an 18-paged letter titled: “Before It is Too Late” to criticize the government of Goodluck Jonathan. He also wrote a letter to Buhari in July 2019 criticising his government. The opening paragraph of the letter reads; “I am constrained to write to you this open letter. I decided to make it an open letter because the issue is very weighty and must be greatly worrisome to all concerned Nigerians and that means all right-thinking Nigerians and those resident in Nigeria.” Buhari’s administration is renown for always blaming the past administration for the governmental issues it is facing.