Jonathan’s administration induced Iyabo to write against me—Obasanjo

President Olusegun Obasanjo has accused President
Goodluck Jonathan’s administration of inducing Iyabo
Obasanjo to write the well-publicised Open letter against
him.
In his yet-to-be-released three-part volume of his memoirs
titled My Watch, which was exclusively obtained by an
online journal, The Cable Alert, Obasanjo, said he had been
warned that “this administration” was attempting to induce
two of his daughters to do a “dirty job” and that he warned
both of them against it. Obasanjo said Iyabo succumbed to
the advances because of “her character” and “the influence
of her mother” – who is the retired general’s first wife.
Obasanjo had remained silent since Iyabo’s open letter to
him was published in the media, but has now responded in
volume one of the three-volume memoirs. Obasanjo wrote:
“I got a warning that this administration was attempting to
induce two of my daughters, including Iyabo, to do a dirty
job. I warned them both against it, but because of her
character, the influence of her mother and her attitude,
Iyabo succumbed; the other daughter did not.
“I was warned about a former minister of finance, who
wrote the reply for Jonathan, and about the writer of the
letter to which E. K. Clark appended his signature. Iyabo’s
letter and the response to it has been treated as a family
issue, so that all the members of the family can be equipped
with the other side of the story from me for posterity.
“If Iyabo was childish and unwise enough to allow herself to
be used, no other member of the family should allow
himself or herself to be so used. Tolerance and acceptance
of others must be practised in the face of any provocation,
no matter how vile.”
In her letter exclusively published by Vanguard (Read the
letter here ), Iyabo, a former commissioner in Ogun state and
former senator, recounted Obasanjo’s failings as a father
and questioned his moral right to criticise others. “This is
the end of my communication with you for life. I pray
Nigeria survives your continual intervention in its affairs,”
she wrote.
Obasanjo had written a highly critical letter to Jonathan
titled “Before It Is Too Late” in which he raised issues about
insecurity and corruption in the country.
He wrote: “You must hold yourself most significantly
responsible for what happens or fails to happen in Nigeria
and in any case, most others will hold you responsible and
God who put you there will surely hold you responsible and
accountable.” Obasanjo further repeated an allegation that
Jonathan was training snipers to kill his political opponents.