THIS IS TRULY NIGERIAN..GOOD PEOPLE, GREAT NATION
A United States cable has revealed how authorities of the United States of America advised President Goodluck Jonathan to keep off his mentor, ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo.
Opponents of the President are also poised to use revelations in the leaked cable message from the United States against him.
The messages, contained in conversations allegedly between Jonathan and former US Ambassador to Nigeria, Robin Sanders, during the confusion-soaked days when President Umaru Yar’Adua was sick in Saudi Arabia, showed that Jonathan committed himself to a credible election in 2011 without contesting in the same exercise.
The revelations came via a secret US diplomatic cable released on Wednesday by WikiLeaks.
The conversation between Jonathan and Sanders, which was said to have taken place on February 26 at the Aguda House residence of Jonathan then, had revealed how overwhelmed the then Vice President was over the manipulations going on by members of the Yar’Adua cabal.
Sanders had conveyed the conversations to the US authorities back home at the time.
Among other admissions, Jonathan was quoted as saying that he lacked the needed political experience and that he was not a politician.
The cable quoted him as saying, “He said he does not anticipate standing for elections in 2011 and that he is not working towards being a presidential candidacy. He wants to put into place an electoral structure that will be ready for national elections. He did, however, note that, “if they want me to run, that will be something to consider at that time.”However, he stressed that his focus now and for the next 12 months will be on “doing a good job and witnessing respectable and credible elections in 2011.”
Already, there are indications that Jonathan’s opponents are making big issues out of the revelations; portraying the President as inconsistent.
The leaked cable also revealed how the US authorities advised Jonathan to distance himself from ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo, saying public perception of an Obasanjo surrogate would not help him.
Sanders was quoted to have reported, “At the moment, Jonathan’s detractors believe he is a surrogate for former President Obasanjo. Ambassador advised the AgP (acting President) that he needs to publicly demonstrate that he is the sole executor of national issues, not being directed or serving a political purpose for Obasanjo or others, so that his leadership would not be in question and the polity would accept that he had the best interest of nation at hand. The AgP said he appreciated our advice, including publicly holding Obasanjo at arm’s length.
“He said he would consider taking steps, including possibly convoking the entire diplomatic corps to brief them on the current political climate, using this and other events to demonstrate that he is his own man, and diminish the appearance he is a regional leader.”
Sources in the opposition camps to Jonathan said Thursday evening that the revelations would form the next plank of attacks on the President.
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