Posted by CHIKE ONWUEGBUCHI on
PRESIDENT Olusegun Obasanjo last night faulted claim by Vice President Atiku Abubakar that he (Obasanjo) swore to him (Atiku) that he would leave office on May 29, 2007.
PRESIDENT Olusegun Obasanjo last night faulted claim by Vice President Atiku Abubakar that he (Obasanjo) swore to him (Atiku) that he would leave office on May 29, 2007.
The President said there was no need for him to swear on the matter since it was certain that he would leave.
Speaking on a phone-in live programme "President Explains," of the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), President Obasanjo said there was no need for him to have sworn on the issue.
Vice President Atiku was quoted recently by a national newspaper as saying ..."I have discussed with Mr. President, he had sworn to me on one-on-one that he is not going to stay beyond 2007. I don't know what anybody else is talking about.''
But answering a caller's question on the issue Obasanjo said: "If I give my word it is either you take it or leave it. I don't need to swear."
According to him, it amounted to a "little bit of exaggeration and ... may be a loss of memory." For anybody including Atiku to have claimed that he swore to vacate office come 2007.
On alleged disloyalty on the part of Vice President Atiku, the President stated: "There was a time I got a report of disloyalty from the Vice President. I now called the VeePee and brought out a Quran and Bible, but the VeePee refused to swear."
The President, who also recalled his travails in prison claimed that the Vice President was at his Ota farm the day policemen arrested him during the late Gen. Sani Abacha regime.
On recent fuel hike, Obasanjo appealed to Nigerians to show understanding adding that the rationale behind the increase is to make Nigeria a better place in a long term where our children will enjoy.
He stated that the N25, per litre subsidy that government was spending on petrol could not allow it to meet other government obligations to citizens.