Former
President Olusegun Obasanjo has asked Ekiti State governor, Ayo Fayose, to stop
his verbal attacks on him and seek God’s forgiveness for abusing him barely two
years after he begged him in a letter over previous insults.
Governor
Fayose had last week in Ile Ife, Osun State, lambasted Obasanjo for what he
called Obasanjo’s unnecessary outbursts on President Goodluck Jonathan.
But
Obasanjo, through one of his associates, disclosed that Fayose wrote him a
letter, begging him two years ago to facilitate his (Fayose) return to the
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The
Obasanjo’s associate asked Nigerians not to take Fayose serious as he would
soon write another letter of apology to the former president.
Fayose’s
letter, dated 26th June, 2012, obtained by Saturday Tribune, detailed how he
begged Obasanjo for forgiveness, for what he called his actions that had caused
embarrassment to the former president.
The tone of
the letter also asked the former president to help him facilitate his return to
the PDP.
The former
president, in his reply to Fayose’s letter, dated July 18,2012, accepted to
forgive the Ekiti State governor but told him that the aspect of facilitating
his return to the party needed to be handled at the local, state and the
national levels of the party.
Below is the
unedited content of the letter Fayose wrote to Obasanjo and the former
president’s reply to Fayose’s letter.
Fayose’s
Letter:
“Dear Baba,
“There is no
denying the fact that my relationship with you has gone sour as a result of my
action and inaction which have definitely caused you embarrassment in public
and this has marred our very good father-son relationship in the past.
“I take
responsibility for my over reaction and disrespect to your person which is most
regretted, I am indeed sorry.
“I pray that
God will give you the grace to let go of the past knowing fully well that I am
human and therefore not infallible especially considering the circumstances
surrounding my removal from office.
“To further
buttress my willingness to seek peace with you, I could recall that I had made
several efforts to this effect by consulting your close allies in the persons
of Aare Afe Babalola (SAN), Chief Omilani and Pastor Oyedepo amongst others.
“Lastly,
kindly disregard all insinuations or political blackmailing suggestive of my
doing or saying anything contradicting my present disposition as contained in
this letter.
“My
reconciliation with your goodself may not go down well with some of my
political opponents, but you remain the father of all.
“My wife sends
her love and greetings.
“With high
regards.
Signed
Ayo Fayose.
Obasanjo’s
reply dated July 18, 2012
“Dear Ayo,
“I write to
acknowledge the receipt of your letter dated June 26, 2012 pleading with me to
forgive you, as you put it, for your action and inaction which have caused me
embarrassment in the public.
“As for the
embarrassment and personal insult to me, forgiveness is divine and I will not
withhold forgiveness since I believe that God will not withhold forgiveness for
my inadequacies.
“However,
for me, the personal aspect can be handled by me but the party aspect has to be
handled at the local, state and national levels of the Party.
“I wish you
all the best and God’s blessing.”
Signed
Olusegun Obasanjo.
Obasanjo’s
associate told the newspaper that “One wonders why the same Fayose who wrote
that letter is now against the president settling his differences with Obasanjo
given the background that he (Fayose) wrote that letter of apology barely two
years ago.”
Fayose had
on Friday condemned Thursday’s visit of five Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)
governors to former President Obasanjo, saying the visit would further
encourage disrespect for the office of the president of Nigeria.
Fayose said
in a statement made available to newsmen in Ado Ekiti on Friday that “visiting
Obasanjo to plead with him to rescind his decision not to participate in the
party’s activities was capable of encouraging other members of the party to
openly disrespect the office of President and Commander-in-chief of the Armed
Forces of Nigeria as being done by Obasanjo.”
Governor
Fayose also called for “immediate suspension of the former president from the
PDP for anti-party activities,” and contended that “a man who has refused to
respect the office of the President of Nigeria that he once occupied does not
also deserve respect from anyone.”
He also
called on the leadership of the PDP to set a panel to probe Obasanjo’s
anti-party activities.
“The PDP as
a party must stop condoning indiscipline. Nobody should be treated as being
bigger than the party.”
He said:
“Obasanjo, who does not appreciate others, deserve no respect,” adding that “no
amount of mud-slinging from him will stop President Goodluck Jonathan’s
re-election.”
According to
him, Obasanjo was “one of the major problems of Nigeria,” and added that “the
former president’s open castigation of President Goodluck Jonathan is
unbecoming of someone who led the country for 11 years and wasted billions of
naira in his attempt to perpetuate himself in office beyond the
constitutionally recognised two-terms.”
He said:
“Have you ever heard a former president of the United States of America openly
abusing a sitting president of the country?
“Does it
mean that former US president, Bill Clinton, agreed with all the policies of
George W. Bush and the incumbent president, Barack Obama?”
He said:
“Obasanjo’s behaviour is unpresidential and he must be told to respect himself.
“General
Yakubu Gowon, General Ibrahim Babangida and Alhaji Shehu Shagari have not been
doing the same. They don’t openly disparage the office of the president or his
person and this is not because they agree with all his policies, but because
they know that there is a channel through which they can convey their feelings
to the president.”
On why he is
the only governor out of the about 18 other PDP governors that did not go to
see Chief Obasanjo, Fayose said: “Chief Obasanjo is our own and we are the ones
who should correct our own as Yoruba.”
Speaking
further, Fayose said Obasanjo was already a member of the All Progressives
Congress (APC) and that he was pushing for one of his loyalists to be the
party’s vice presidential candidate.
He said;
“Obasanjo is a man who can never be pleased. His principle of life is- if it is
not his way, it must not be another person’s way.
“Even if
President Jonathan gives Obasanjo his blood today, he (Obasanjo) cannot change
because he is already neck-deep in the APC agenda, with his eyes on the vice
presidential ticket of the party.
“Therefore,
no amount of visits by PDP governors can make him change his mind about
President Jonathan, whom he hates not because he has not performed, but because
he (Jonathan) did not hand over his presidency to him”.
Culled :dailypostng
