President Olusegun Ob-asanjo yesterday said that he decided not to continue in office beyond May 2007 because God has not told him to do so.
Answering questions on a two-hour radio talk “The President Explains” with the theme “The Journey so Far�, Obasanjo gave three reasons why he would be vacating office next year. �One is that I do not believe that God wants me to continue and that is very important. When God wanted me to start, God told me. This time, God has not told me to continue. Two. By the constitution, I cannot continue. Three. I am getting tired and I am getting old. I need a bit of rest,� the President said in a response to a caller from the South-south who asked him why he did not continue in office after 2007.
Responding to another caller, Obasanjo noted that Nigeria had come a long way from 1999, when �Nigeria was unwanted, undesired and unrespected. Nigerians had to queue for days to buy adulterated petrol, had a debt of over $30 billion with foreign direct investment of only about $2 billion into the oil sector�.
�We now have a reserve of over $43 billion, have wiped out $30 billion debt and have an annual foreign direct investment of nearly $20 billion into various sectors of the economy, not oil and gas alone�, he added.
President Obasanjo who emphasised that �we need to identify those who can perform, men and women of integrity, ability, who fear God and are sufficiently righteous to lead this country�, however said that impeachment should be used as a last resort because according to him, �impeachment is part of our constitution but it is meant to be a last resort. It is not something to be used very unseriously. There are two ways of looking at it provided the issue is weighty enough and the constitutional process is followed. I believe that those who made our constitution realized that there may be occasions when impeachment has to be utilized.�
�Now, if our constitution says that if you cross from one party to another, you forfeit the right which you enjoyed on the basis of the party in which you were elected, then you have, of course, offended against the constitution and for as long as you have offended the constitution, you lose your seat,” apparently referring to Vice President Atiku Abubakar, who defected from PDP to AC.
While answering a question on what the election year and the aftermath would hold for Nigeria, the President said, �2007 will not be forbidden as some people think. It is normal for people to have fear of the unknown. But I want to assure that God is not God of unfinished project. The project called Nigeria is not just only my effort. God is using me and others to achieve what God has said we will achieve�.
President Obasanjo who apologized to Nigerians because some people found around him had not lived up to expectation, however affirmed that he has �faith in God and I believe in the ability of many Nigerians. So the important thing is to identify those Nigerians who are able to perform, men and women who fear God and believe in Nigeria and then we can nurture them. And the way I am seeing things is that God is being faithful to his words. He will never leave us nor forsake us�.
Going down memory lane, the President started by asking a question,� but where were we in 1999? We were in a situation where some people did not believe that the democratic dispensation would work and of course they based their points on what had transpired. Nigeria in the comity of nations was undesired. We got all sorts of names abd, we were at the bottom of the corruption perception index but today we have left all that behind.�
Speaking on the return of Oyo State Governor, Alhaji Rashidi Ladoja ,and political violence in Nigeria, President Obasanjo disclosed that he had advised Ladoja to extend hands of friendship �It is also important that the governor should open his hands because when you are in that type of position you want to make more friends than enemies,� he said.
The President however added that �not all violence is political and we must not classify all violence as political. Yes, there has been violence in our society but our society is not the most violent in the world. We should not equate all violent issues to being political. Of course, I hope that the level of violence in our country will be reduced�.
While emphasising that all the reforms embarked upon by his administration were meant to last, he said the call for the suspension of the electronic voters� registration going on by the Independent National Electoral Comm-ission (INEC) �is not the solution. In this day and age, we must move with time and improve on things and we are improving, advancing and making progress.”
Dec242006