Clark accuses Obasanjo of influencing Adeniyi’s book to ridicule Ijaw

Ijaw National Leader, Chief Edwin Kiagbodo Clark has blasted former President Olusegun Obasanjo, accusing him of influencing the publication of the book, Against the Run of Play written by Segun Adeniyi, to authenticate what Obasanjo wrote earlier about former President Goodluck Jonathan and Ijaw people in his book, My Watch.

Clark described Obasanjo as a man who only believes in himself and no other.

In an open letter to the former leader, Clark said: “I received several calls from Nigeria recently while in London about a new book being presented by Mr. Olusegun Adeniyi, former Special Adviser on Media to the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua. Adeniyi had earlier written a book after the death of Yar’Adua. In that book titled Power, Politics and Death he made some unpalatable remarks about you.

“He later apologised for the statements he made against you. I am therefore not surprised that Adeniyi has now fulfilled his promise to you by writing a new book titled Against the Run of Play where he now used this to give you more room to insult Ijaw people and authenticate your book My Watch.”

Clark continued: “For instance, some of the statements against me in your book were the same statements you repeated in Adeniyi’s book which is an arrangement between the two of you to condemn the Ijaw and incite other Nigerian leaders to disparage Ijaw leaders particularly myself and Asari Dokubo.

“Goodluck Jonathan was my candidate and I have right to campaign for him. There was nothing we said to infuriate or insult Nigerians as you claimed. For instance, you said in Adeniyi’s book that the late DSP Alamieyeseigha had no reason to say that there’s no vacancy in Aso Rock when he was campaigning for Jonathan. Whereas former Governor of Niger State, Babangida Aliyu also said the same thing when he was addressing youths who asked him to contest the Presidency.”

“Also in 2003, Chief Anthony Anenih declared there was no vacancy in Aso Rock because you must be returned as President of Nigeria. The same Anenih told Atiku during his campaign for Jonathan in 2014 that there was no vacancy in Aso Rock in 2015. As Nigerians, we are free to campaign for any candidate we believe in, whether he or she is from our ethnic nationality, zone or the same religion as us or political party. This is the situation all over the world,” the Ijaw leader stated in the letter.