Obasanjo says Jonathan used ‘Boko Haram insurgency to turn Nigeria to his ATM’

 Former Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo has stated why he rejected the re-election of immediate past president, Mr. Goodluck Jonathan, in the 2015 presidential election.

According to him, “Jonathan and his people turned Boko Haram into an industry for making money. Rather than seek for a solution, Boko Haram became an ATM machine for taking
money out of the treasury.”

This and many more are contained in a book, Against the Run of Play, written by Mr. Segun Adeniyi, Chairman of the Editorial Board of ThisDay Newspapers.

The book, an account of what happened in the 2015 presidential election, is due for public presentation in Lagos on Friday, April 28, 2017.

“This morning, on my way from Abeokuta by road, I was listening to the radio. I heard that the Jonathan administration said that they are going to set up an agency for pipeline protection. Now, what are the police there for? What are all the security agencies doing? This is another chop-chop,” Mr. Obasanjo said in Abuja during a thanksgiving ceremony to mark the 50th birthday of Dr.  Oby Ezekwesili, a former Minister of Education.

Mr. Obasanjo, according to the author, claimed to have nothing personal against Mr. Jonathan, explaining that his disagreement with him was based on certain principles on which he was not prepared to compromise.

“My decision was based on what would be for the good of Nigeria and since I didn’t consider Jonathan god enough, I told him to his face. What would I be afraid of?” asked Obasanjo.

He sustained his attack with details of how he thought the Jonathan administration was not interested in accountability, noting that its handling of the Boko Haram insurgency indicated that if allowed to continue in power, Mr. Jonathan could fatally damage the country.

“Jonathan and his people turned Boko Haram into an industry for making money. Rather than seek for solution, Boko Haram became an ATM machine for taking money out of the treasury. Take the issue of the Chibok tragedy. If he had acted within the first 48 hours, they would have found most of the girls. The CAN (Christian Association of Nigeria) Chairman of the local chapter in Chibok was here to see me and he explained how they were helpless with no reaction from the authorities for several days,” the book quoted Mr. Obasanjo as saying.