President Johnathan Must Answer Questions From Obasanjos Letter - National Assembly

The National Assembly has said President Goodluck
Jonathan must “comprehensively” address issues
raised by former President Olusegun Obasanjo in his
letter to him (the President).

The two chambers said this on Friday in their
separate reactions to the controversial letter written by
Obasanjo to Jonathan.

But while there are indications that the House of
Representatives would, this week, raise a motion on
the letter, the Senate stated that it would wait for
Jonathan’s response before taking any action.

Obasanjo had in the 18-page letter accused
Jonathan of condoning corruption and engaging in
acts that were capable of destroying the country.
The Chairman, Senate Committee on Rules and
Business, Senator Ita Enang, in an interview with one
of our correspondents on Friday in Abuja, said
Jonathan should address the issues raised by
Obasanjo in the letter in due time to avoid tension.

He said, “The letter by Obasanjo touches on national
security and all the issues raised therein cannot be
ignored. President Jonathan has a duty of taking the
issues raised in the letter, one after the other and
explaining his side of the story to Nigerians”
Enang was of the view that the legislature cannot take
action on the letter until an appropriate response from
the Presidency had been made.

He said, “As it is, no legislative action can be taken
unless the issue had been raised as a motion after
appropriate responses had been made by the
presidency in reaction to the allegation.”

Also, the Minority Whip, who is also a prominent
leader of the opposition in the Senate, Senator Ganiyu
Solomon, admitted that the issues raised by Obasanjo
were capable of heating up the polity and causing
serious tension.
He said, “All issues raised are very sensitive and
germane.

The Presidency cannot just dismiss the
letter just like that. They should give full explanation.
It is not a beer parlour talk.
“Asking us to investigate it at the National Assembly
level may not achieve the desired result. Any
responsible government owes the citizenry the
responsibility of letting the world know the true
position of things.

“The sensitive issues raised by Obasanjo are enough
to make us to shiver as a nation. A situation when a
former President for eight years is saying the symbol
of the ruling party has performed woefully called for a
serious action.”

On their part, members of the House of
Representatives said it would serve Jonathan’s
interest and the interest of the nation for him to
respond “urgently” to the allegations of Obasanjo.
The lawmakers said silence on the allegations would
be “dangerous” and that delay could “give political
forces the opportunity to heat up the polity.”

Speaking on the issue, the Chairman, House
Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Mr. Zakari
Mohammed, said the House was vindicated by
Obasanjo’s letter.

He said since June 2011, the House had always
fought corruption, cautioned the executive, demanded
details of budget implementation, but made little
progress.

Mohammed said, “These are very serious, dangerous
allegations and we should not look at the messenger
but the message.”
On whether the House would conduct a probe
specifically into the content of the letter, Mohammed
stated that the House would continue to perform its
duty of exposing corruption.

“It is not just about the letter, but we will continue to
conduct investigations; we have a job to do and we
will continue to do it,” he added.
Commenting in a similar vein, the Minority Leader of
the House, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila, told SUNDAY
PUNCH that “Jonathan must respond to the weighty
allegations.”

According to him, some of the allegations “are almost
satanic” and did not fall in the category of issues the
ruling PDP usually wished away as “PDP family
affairs.”

Gbajabiamila, who is the caucus leader of the All
Progressives Congress at the House, noted that the
allegations on security training and placing some
people on security watch list were “grave and must
not be wished away.”

He stated that members were still studying the letter
and would likely raise motions on the floor next week.
“There are aspects of these allegations having to do
with national security.

“In the coming week, members may want to ask more
questions on these security allegations, like placing
people on a watch list,” he added.