With six weeks to the rescheduled general elections, the political drama associated with the conduct of such exercises in this part of the world is getting messier. The latest act is between former President Olusegun Obasanjo and Femi Fani-Kayode, who served as aviation minister during his administration. Recall that Obasanjo had accused President Goodluck Jonathan of trying to manipulate the elections in his favour, the same way former Ivory Coast President, Laurent Gbagbo, did to his own peril. Speaking with newsmen on Saturday in Abeokuta, the former president was of the opinion that President Jonathan’s behaviour and body language suggest of someone who plans to win the election by “hook or crook”, a situation which, he said, would be dangerous for Nigeria’s democracy.
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But in a swift reaction, the director, media and publicity, PDP Presidential Campaign Organisation, Femi Fani-Kayode, revealed that Jonathan’s refusal to be controlled by Obasanjo is responsible for the latter’s outburst against the former. According to him, his former boss played a key role in attempting to keep President Gbagbo in power at all costs, stressing that Jonathan’s government ensured that democracy was fully restored in the West African nation. He accused Obasanjo of holding secret meetings with leaders of the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC). His words: “After Jonathan came to power, Obasanjo not only tried to control and teleguide him but he also asked him to do a number of things that were simply wrong and unacceptable. It is for President Goodluck Jonathan himself to divulge those things and I am sure that he will do so at the appropriate time.
