Following the recent statement by former president Olusegun Obasanjo, regretting having Atiku Abubakar as vice president, a northern elder in Kano, the founder and president of the Patriotic Elders of Nigeria (PEN), Dr Bature Abdulaziz mon has condemned the utterances and described Obasanjo as a betrayer.
He stated this while speaking to Vanguard in Kano on Wednesday adding that Obasanjo is only expressing hatred and bitterness against the north and northerners hiding behind Atiku even as he was brought to power by massive support of the north he enjoyed.
Bature added that it was Obasanjo’s bitterness that drove away people around him while in power and not Atiku and he is blackmailing him in support of his tribesman as 2023 election is by the door.
“On what former president Olusegun Obasanjo is mentioned by the media to have uttered negative statement against former Vice President Abubakar Atiku, even if one is not a politician, out of patriotism, he must respond and understand that there is need to support Atiku.
“Even as Obasanjo’s wrongs should not affect Tinubu, but what Obasanjo said that he regrets making Atiku his vice is uncalled for and is clearly to blackmail Atiku in support of his tribesman.
“The truth is that whenever Obasanjo intends to address the public he starts by taking whisky. He will then go and say anything he wants because he is used to saying all sorts of trash and nothing happens.
“If he has forgotten, we Nigerians have not. A victim of any form of molestation or crime will never forget the perpetrator, and we will never forget what Obasanjo did.
“In his first election as president, it were the northerners that supported and brought in Obasanjo. They gave him over sixty percent of the votes he got and not the south west or the south east. He was brought in to power by the support of the north.
“Prior to Obasanjo’s second election, because of his kind of ungratefulness and bitterness, all those supporting him had to dump him.
“That was how Atiku came to enjoy more support than him.
In short, when the time for the second election came, and he understood that Atiku was already prepared to defeat him, for those Nigerians who know this, Obasanjo had to come before Atiku on his knees begging to be allowed a second term. There are pictures to prove this. That was when Atiku withdrew for him prior to the primary election to allow him to win.
“But as soon as he emerged president in the second term he turned all his evil forces against Atiku. It was such that if Atiku were to die, he would have been killed over and over again by Obasanjo. Obasanjo was all out to eliminate Atiku. He did this severally but could not succeed against Atiku. That was how he ended his regime with bitterness against Atiku.
“Unfortunately, with all the wrongs he did to Atiku, Atiku sees everything as a bygone and holds nothing against Obasanjo and Obasanjo also remained quiet as though it was all well. Seeing that the 2023 election is by the door side Obasanjo is now erupting and starting another attack against Atiku again.
“Let me tell you this, any northerner that supports what Obasanjo is saying against Atiku should understand that Obasanjo sees Atiku in the same manner as he sees every other northerner. Obasanjo hates the north in just the same way he hates Atiku.
“He was brought in and supported by northerners and he has now turned his back against them in betrayal. All these things I am saying are known to all Nigerians including you the newsmen.
“Obasanjo has molested the north and the northerners since they brought him to power.
Just imagine this kind of statement expressing extreme hatred against Atiku thinking that he can damage him. Let me tell you something, the way and manner in which Obasanjo is expressing hatred against Atiku is the same as he hates even the animals that come from the north talk less of the northerners themselves.
“I want to be bold here, just as Obasanjo is saying he regrets knowing Atiku, every northerner should also say he regrets ever knowing Obasanjo as well because he hates the north and northerners and will never like them in his life.
“I am not saying this to support any political party, I am saying this out of patriotism to expose Obasanjo. He oppressed Atiku during his regime and wants to continue that now that Atiku is out to contest” the PEN president stated.
