Presidency chides Obasanjo for criticising successors

• Says ex-President not an ideal leader to emulate
• You conducted worst elections, Yoruba, Ohanaeze youths tell Obasanjo

The Presidency has chided former President Olusegun Obasanjo for criticising other governments. In a statement, yesterday, Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Public Communication and Orientation, Sunday Dare, said that Nigeria’s democracy endured severe setbacks under Obasanjo.

Dare said that successive administrations struggled to rectify the damage left by Obasanjo, adding that Tinubu is now making significant progress in addressing the issues.

According to Dare, Obasanjo has lost any moral authority to criticise the current government, stressing that he should apologise to Nigerians for failing to lay the necessary infrastructure for the country’s progress.

He, therefore, advised Obasanjo to refrain from constantly criticising his successors and to take time to reflect on how he had contributed to the parlous state of the Nigerian nation, which President Tinubu is now valiantly working to restore.

Also, Special Adviser to the President on Information & Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, in a statement, yesterday, said: “In a recent display of his characteristic self-importance, former President Obasanjo once again took to the public stage to bestow his unsolicited wisdom on leadership and governance in Nigeria. From his lofty perch, he blamed those who served after his tenure for the nation’s myriad challenges.

“On matters of integrity, honesty, and morality in public leadership, Obasanjo is certainly not a paragon of virtue for anyone to model after.

“If Obasanjo had addressed the many problems he critiqued in his poorly written Yale lecture when he ruled Nigeria for eight years, former President Muhammadu Buhari and Tinubu would have had a much lighter burden of fixing the country.

“While the Tinubu administration diligently works to overcome the country’s economic challenges, it would be better and more advisable for Obasanjo to temper his self-righteousness in his public discussions regarding our nation’s temporary difficulties.”

RELATEDLY, the Yoruba Youth Socio-Cultural Association (YYSA), yesterday, berated Obasanjo for his uncomplimentary remarks on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and Tinubu’s leadership style.

National President of YYSA, Olalekan Hammed, in a statement made available to journalists in Ibadan, urged the international community to ignore Obasanjo. Hammed said that all the chairmen appointed by Obasanjo had a record of poor election conduct.

In the same vein, the Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council Worldwide has also berated Obasanjo over his comments on the nation’s recent elections.

In a statement made available to journalists in Kaduna, yesterday, the National President of the group, Mazi Okwu Nnabuike, accused the former President of laying the foundation for a flawed electoral system in the country.