Nigeria: Former President Obasanjo Accuses Buhari of Plans to Rig Upcoming Elections

Nigeria, the self-acclaimed giant of Africa will be going to polls on February 16, 2019, and the familiar faces who have been involved in the country’s politics since its independence in 1960 have taken center stage with the usual cross-carpeting, accusations, and counter-accusations.

Former president of the country, Olusegun Obasanjo who ruled the country for two terms of four years each from 1999 to 2007 was a strong supporter of the current president in the 2015 elections against the incumbent president, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan. However he has recently withdrawn his support for President Buhari in the forthcoming elections accusing the president of incompetence and plans to rig the elections.

He made the decision known in an open letter – a means of communication which he has been known for in recent times. He compared the President Buhari to the former military dictator Sani Abacha - who jailed Mr. Obasanjo while in power before the later became president.

The open letter which he titled "Point for Concern and Action" was distributed to journalists at a press conference held at his house at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria.

Parts of the letter read:

"Buhari has succeeded in deceiving us the first time and we will be fools to allow ourselves to be deceived the second time.

"Buba Galadima, who knows Buhari very well as a confidant and National Secretary of Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), the Buhari's party before it joined in forming All Progressives Congress, APC has warned us this time around that no matter what he promises, he cannot change his character and attitude.

“Mr. Galadima describes him (Mr. Buhari) as inflexible, insincere, dubious, intolerant, never accepts responsibility when things go wrong and impervious to reason and advice for a change. If you cannot change your mind, you cannot change anything is the assertion of George Bernard Shaw.

"He went for broke and surrounded himself with hatchet men who on his order and in his interest and at high costs to Nigeria and Nigerians, maimed, tortured and killed for Abacha. Buhari has started on the same note on the same path in mad desperation."It is the sole reason he has blatantly refused to sign the revised electoral bill into law. His henchmen are working round the clock in cahoots with security and election officials to perfect their plan by computing results right from the ward to local government, state and national levels to allow him what will look like a landslide victory irrespective of the true situation for a candidate who might have carried out by proxy presidential debate and campaigns.

"We are monitoring them and we call on all democrats across the world to keep an eye on the unfolding anti-democratic agenda of President Muhammed Buhari. This is the time for preventive measures to be taken otherwise Nigeria may be presented with a fait accompli with impunity and total disregard of all plea."

In a swift response, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) said that the former president was haunted by what he did while in office.

The president is running against the former vice president of Olusegun Obasanjo, Atiku Abubakar who as at the last election was himself a member of the APC and supporter of Buhari.

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Header Image Credit: Daily Post Nigeria