Why Obasanjo is not a democrat – Presidency

The Nigerian Presidency has said former president, Olusegun Obasanjo is not a democrat.

Mr Obasanjo who democratically governed the country for eight years,in his latest epistle, cautioned President Muhammadu Buhari on the need for a drastic action on insecurity if the nation must remain a united one.

He also called for a gathering of various ethnic groups in the country for deliberations on how to live peacefully with one another. The report of a similar one convened during the administration of Former President, Goodluck Jonathan, has been dumped in a trash can by his successor.

Mr Jonathan blamed lack of time for failing to implement the report of the 2014 conference after he lost his re-election bid in 2015.

But weighing in into the matter on Sunday, Garba Shehu, presidential spokesman described the former president as non-democrat, saying those aggrieved with the present structure of the nation should approach the National Assembly, a position reiterated by herdsmen accused as arrowheads of insecurity nationwide.

“To call for a national conference when there is a sitting Parliament in place, whoever is making that call is not a democrat,” Mr Shehu said when he featured on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics.

The presidential spokesman also said the government in which he serves is on top of the security situation in the country.

He refuted insinuations in some quarters that the nation’s security apparatus has collapsed despite the unabated insecurity which saw 72 people killed while 32 were kidnapped last week.

“We are in total disagreement with the assumptions of collapse of security in the country,” he said.

“Security challenges have been present before the present administration came to office. We have met our own challenges and we are dealing with them as decisive as we can.

“The Government is on top of the security situation in the country because we have calmed down North Central and Niger Delta, the presidential spokesman added.