Poll shows Nigerians’ support for Obasanjo on letter to Buhari

Less than 24 hours after former president Olusegun Obasanjo penned a scathing criticism of President Muhammadu Buhari, and advised the latter to shelve his re-election plans, the Presidency has defended the performance of the Buhari administration.

The spirited defence, stated in a three-page statement released by Nigeria’s information minister, notwithstanding, respondents to the Guardian poll overwhelmingly supported the ex-president’s criticism of the man he supported in the 2015 general elections.

55.7 per cent of the 3794 respondents to the poll conducted on the Guardian’s website, as well as on its Twitter Facebook pages, between January 24 and 25, said Buhari should heed Obasanjo’s advice and not seek re-election in 2019.

Although Buhari has not publicly said he would be seeking re-election, reports say governors from his ruling All Progressives Congress have asked him to.

Another 30.7 per cent said Buhari’s performance as the president needs improvement, underscoring Obasanjo’s position that the Nigerian leader has failed in his duties.

“The lice of poor performance in government – poverty, insecurity, poor economic management, nepotism, gross dereliction of duty, condonation of misdeed – if not outright encouragement of it, lack of progress and hope for the future, lack of national cohesion and poor management of internal political dynamics and widening inequality – are very much with us today,” Obasanjo said in a 13-page statement titled ‘The Way Out: A Clarion Call for Coalition for Nigeria Movement’.

A paltry 6.3 per cent of the respondents thought the content of ex-president Obasanjo’s 13-page statement should be ignored by Buhari while 7.3 per cent felt the president should invite Obasanjo for talks.