Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has raised fears that the
political posturing of President Goodluck Jonathan – using the military
to delay scheduled election – might invite a military coup on the
country.
“The signs are not auspicious,” Mr. Obasanjo told the Financial
Times in an interview in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital. “I don’t know
whether a script is being played.”
“I sincerely hope that the president is not going for broke and
saying ‘look dammit, it’s either I have it or nobody has it’. I hope
that we will not have a coup . . . I hope we can avoid it.”
There have been concerns among opposition activists and civil society
that Mr. Jonathan is excessively courting the armed forces and dragging
them into politics.
National elections, earlier billed for February 14 and 28, were
rescheduled for March 28 and April 11 following a “strong advisory” and a
warning from the National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki, and military
chiefs that they could not guarantee security for the polls.
The opposition All Progressives Congress has accused the military of
being used by the Jonathan administration to scuttle the election after
it had earlier given a clear commitment to provide security for the
elections just three days before making a volte-face.
Many Nigerians also expressed concern when the Nigerian Army
addressed a press conference in January, saying it did not have the
original certificates of Muhammadu Buhari, the APC presidential
candidate Mr. Jonathan’s party is battling to disqualify from running.
And just recently, a leaked audio recording suggested that Mr.
Jonathan ordered the military to rig last year’s Ekiti governorship
election in favour of his party, the Peoples Democratic Party.
In his interview with the Financial Times, Mr. Obasanjo said the
military, especially the army, is in bad shape and had not been properly
led.
“It’s a question of leadership — political and military,” Mr.
Obasanjo said. “I think you need to ask [Mr Jonathan] how has he let
[the army] go to this extent . . . Many things went wrong: recruitment
went wrong; training went wrong; morale went down; motivation not there;
corruption was deeply ingrained; welfare was bad.”
There are suggestions Mr. Jonathan would prefer to hand over to the
military rather than Mr. Buhari if he loses the coming presidential
election, but there is so far no clear-cut evidence to suggest that,
although the APC has repeatedly alleged that the president’s party is in
cahoot with the military to rig the coming election.
In the interview published Tuesday, Mr. Obasanjo, a card-carrying
member of the PDP, openly endorsed opposition candidate, Mr. Buhari,
saying he is best for Nigeria at this time.
The APC candidate is a former military head of state, who ruled Nigeria between December 1983 and August 1985.
“The circumstances [Mr. Buhari] will be working under if he wins the
election are different from the one he worked under before, where he was
both the executive and the legislature — he knows that,” Mr. Obasanjo
said. “He’s smart enough. He’s educated enough. He’s experienced enough.
Why shouldn’t I support him?”
Mr. Obasanjo has repeatedly accused Mr. Jonathan of deepening corruption in Nigeria and mismanaging public funds.
Speaking about the financial crisis facing the country as a result of
the crash in crude oil prices, Mr. Obasanjo sees some positives in the
development.
“There’ll be less in the pot, for stealing or corruption,” the paper quoted him as saying.
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