A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr Festus Keyamo, has reacted to the recent statements credited to former President Olusegun Obasanjo and former military President Ibrahim Babangida.
The lawyer, who appeared on Channels Television’s flagship political programme, Sunday Politics noted that both leaders cannot recommend a roadmap for Nigerians.
“These two leaders cannot show us the roadmap – because they had opportunities in the past and bungled them,” he said.
In a statement issued on January 23, Obasanjo had criticised President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration and asked the President not to seek re-election.
On his part, Babangida had has called on President Buhari in a statement on February 4, to step down in 2019 to allow for a generational shift.
A drama, however, ensued as the former military President denied any connection to the statement while his spokesman, Mr Kassim Afegbua, insisted that he issued the statement on the directive of his boss.
In his reaction, Mr Keyamo believes both statements attributed to the leaders have similar content and can be split into two parts in, saying he agrees with one part and disagrees with the other.
He stressed the need for the Federal Government to acknowledge the concerns raised in the statements which include the herdsmen attacks and economic challenges among others.
The senior advocate noted further that the leaders have the right to highlight the issues they feel should be addressed, saying “you cannot throw away the message and the messenger; that part of the message is absolutely necessary.”
He is, however, of the opinion that the part where Nigerians should “reject the message and the messenger” is where both leaders are trying to recommend the way to go.
“Babangida spent N40billion on a transition programme to nowhere; eight years to nowhere. They have a sense of entitlement.
“These are people who have been involved in the past in selection process, military coups, and all of that; so they don’t still believe in democracy,” said Keyamo.
He pointed out that former President Obasanjo was trying to amend the constitution to go for a third term and cited a situation where bags of monies were discovered in both houses of the national assembly.
The statements from both leaders have triggered blames in the country, as well as among the supporters and critics of President Buhari’s administration.
