Olusegun Obasanjo, the former president, was criticised by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) for how the present administration was handling pending reforms and the coup in the Niger Republic.

It was earlier reported that President Bola Tinubu’s implementation of eliminating petroleum product subsidies and floating the naira was criticised by Obasanjo.

Following the Tinubu government’s removal of the gasoline subsidy and floating of the naira, the populace have been complaining about inflation and the growing cost of food products over the past few months.

In a statement provided the media on Sunday, Obasanjo stated that while Tinubu’s ideas were essential, they were carried out incorrectly.

This was confirmed by his Special Assistant on Media, Kehinde Akinyemi.

The ex-President, according to the statement, spoke in Abuja at the weekend at a colloquium tagged: “Nigeria’s Development: Navigating the Way Out of the Current Economic Crisis and Insecurity.”

“Today, the government has taken three decisions, two of which are necessary but wrongly implemented and have led to the impoverisation of the economy and of Nigerians. These are the removal of subsidy, closing the gap between the black market and official rates of exchange and the third is dealing with a military coup in Niger Republic,” Obasanjo said.

It was the first time he would be openly criticising Tinubu, whom he did not support to become President.

But reacting on Monday,  the APC National Director, Bala Ibrahim, faulted Obasanjo, whom he described as a serial critic.

According to The Punch, Ibrahim said that he feared the former President might be manifesting signs of old age.

He said, “As a Nigerian and someone who respects Obasanjo, I think senility is beginning to come in. Obasanjo is beginning to manifest the symptoms.

“Ever since he lost the bid to have a third term in office, he has consistently attacked every regime that comes after him. He sees himself as the only one who meant well for Nigeria from independence to date. He thinks he is the best and every other leader is bad. And this is not good for a statesman. Nobody has monopoly on knowledge or style of leadership.

“Obasanjo has been consistent in his criticisms of people in leadership positions apart from himself. So, this is not an isolated case. President Bola Tinubu is not the first to be attacked by Obasanjo. Buhari and Jonathan were also victims of his criticisms. He himself did not fare better when he was the leader. In fact, Obasanjo superintended the balkanisation of the Nigerian economy.

“How can he say someone who is trying to put the economy on a better pedestal is not doing the right thing? I am not a spokesman for Tinubu. Even though the party has discussed him to my knowledge, I practically feel Obasanjo has erred as he has always been doing.”

Peter Obi, the 2023 Labour Party presidential candidate, has reacted to the likelihood of a merger between the Labour Party (LP) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Obi, in an interview on NoireTV-GlobalBlackTV released on YouTube on Saturday, also addressed the prospect of being supported as a Southeast candidate in the 2027 presidential election by Atiku Abubakar, the PDP’s 2023 flagbearer.

Responding to the interviewer’s question, Obi expressed gratitude for Abubakar’s statement about potentially supporting him as a result of the South-East candidate. “I commend him and I’m grateful for his statements, especially where he said he will support me if it (the presidential ticket) goes to the South East,” Obi said.

However, Obi emphasised that his primary concern is not personal ambition or political maneuvering, but rather the well-being of Nigeria and its people. “I’m not desperate to be president, I’m desperate to see Nigeria work, especially for the poor people because we have a lot of potential,” he stated.

On the subject of a potential merger between the PDP and LP, Obi expressed openness to the idea, provided that the goal is to better govern Nigeria and unlock its vast potential. “If the merger is to be able to govern Nigeria properly, unlock all those things that will make Nigeria a better place, I’m for it,” he said.

Obi clarified that he has no interest in mergers or alliances solely to secure power or win elections.

“If it’s just a merger for election or state capture, I’m not for it or part of it, I don’t want to be part of anything like that,” he asserted.

The former Anambra State governor stressed the importance of unity and cooperation among individuals and parties, but only if the objective is to build a better Nigeria.

He said, “It might be at the party level, it might be at the individual level, might be at any level, but we must come together to be able to build a better Nigeria.”

• Says Obidients Can’t Stop Me From Saying The Truth

Nobel Laureate Prof. Wole Soyinka has declared that Peter Obi, the presidential candidate for the Labour Party in 2023, is unsuitable to govern the nation.

He said that this was made clear by the way his followers, dubbed “Obidients,” behaved during the general election campaign of 2023.

He claimed that Obi’s inability to stop his fans from harassing those who hold different opinions on the internet is evidence that he is unfit to be the leader of a nation the size of Nigeria.

The famous author further charged that Obi, a former governor of Anambra, was inciting “Obidients” to criticise him and other people who have different opinions on the internet.

The Nobel laureate, speaking in a recent interview with Noble Nigeria, said he hoped the former governor won’t contest the 2027 presidential election.

“I hope for the sake of the nation that he doesn’t express interest in the next election because for me as a leader if there was any proof that he was unfit to lead that country, it’s in the conduct which he encouraged among his followers. I know for a fact, and I can give you an instance that proves that he was in control of those forces.

“But it is for me a sad phenomenon, especially for those who want to lead a multi-texture society, different religions, different ethnic groups, different world views and who actually want to preside over sub-groups as one, it means that have already declared themselves incompetent to lead such entity and that’s it.”

Backing his claim that Obi was in control of the trolls, Soyinka said, “It’s simply because when he first came to visit me, you know, he did come at one time. And I watched him. I watched his actions and body language. It seemed to be very conciliatory.

“I remember the moment when he took out his (mobile device) after he made a statement like ‘Oh don’t worry. You don’t have anything to worry about these people. He was talking about ‘Obidients’. I remember he took out his phone, and he typed a message there. I was watching him very closely, I didn’t say a thing. And after that, everything seemed to be nice and cosy.

“And I saw and I read his statement about that meeting afterwards. The statement was a contrast to what actually happened, what we discussed, and I mentioned it in my response. It was a misrepresentation of what happened, and I made sure that I put a statement out saying ‘No, I’m sorry, this is not what was said. This language never came into it”.

The literary icon explained that it was surprising that Obi would, after the meeting, put out a different narrative of what really transpired.

“On the contrary. This is what happened, and so when I meet somebody who is incapable, even at a meeting which is supposed to be reconciliatory, of being completely honest. I look at that person and smile to myself. Of course, when I got to Stellenbosch and I was asked a question about this, I repeated exactly what had given ‘offence,’ only this time I made it even stronger. I said Peter did not win this thing (election). So I led them again to go on the rampage, and I went on about my own business.

“Don’t take my word for it. There were witnesses at the meeting. He came with two people and one person was from my side. Ask them! The statement he put out was not a reflection of what went on at that meeting, which I very reluctantly considered,” he added.