Prof. Itse Sagay (SAN), Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC) yesterday said former president, Olusegun Obasanjo’s comments are unbecoming of an elder statesman and former president of a country.
In a statement made available to Daily Independent, Sagay said Obasanjo through his attitude to presidents who succeeded him has clearly shown that he is addicted to power and is suffering from power withdrawal syndrome.
He said “The status of an ex-president is one of quiet dignity, respect, discretion, decorum, discipline and restraint. Obasanjo does not have a single one of these qualities. We have had a number of former Heads of State, namely, Gowon, Shagari, Babangida, Abubakar Salami and Jonathan. All of these former Heads of State have exercised discretion, restraint and self-discipline in relation to their successors, but not Obasanjo”.
“Obasanjo’s boisterous, aggressive and hectoring attitude towards succeeding Presidents, strikes me as a case of one who has never recovered from the loss of power. By his meddlesomeness, rude and uncouth attitude towards later Heads of State, it is clear that he is addicted to a substance called “power”, and is angry and resentful towards any other person exercising it”.
“Gowon was Obasanjo’s boss from 1966 6o 1975, (nine years). Not once did Gowon utter a public criticism of Obasanjo throughout his two tenures from 1976 – 1979 and 1999 to 2007. The same thing applies to Abdul Salami Abubakar, who handed over power to Obasanjo in 1999. Not a single word of public excoriation against Obasanjo was uttered by Abdul Salami Abubakar throughout Obasanjo’s eight years in power. Abubakar demonstrated only decorum and self-respect”.
“Obasanjo believes that he can break all rules and ethics but it is a crime for others to even appear to follow his footsteps in that regard.He is a man who is not conscious of a sense of wrong doing and is probably unaware of the long list of depredations trailing his footsteps. The man is not just immoral, he is worse; he is amoral, i.e., he lacks a sense of right or wrong”.
“Obasanjo is now an old man. It is now imperative that he learns to exercise some discretion and restraint in his public statements. His bombastic, false, misleading and destructive outbursts, are not befitting of a so-called Elder State man. Even more less of a former president” Sagay said.
