Obasanjo’s Damning Assessment: Jonathan’s Performance Below Average

In what might be considered a blow to the much taunted Transformation Agenda of the present administration, former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Friday, said President Goodluck Jonathan has performed below average.

Obasanjo made this view known during an encounter with book writers in Abeokuta, Ogun State, as part of activities marking the popular Ake Festival.

When asked to give an assessment of the Jonathan administration, the ex-president blurted out: “His performance is below average. I will not accept responsibility for his performance. There is nobody that gets such a position without being helped”.

Mr. Obasanjo also debunked the insinuations that he had selected Jonathan, who was then Bayelsa Governor as the running mate to the late President Musa Yar’Adua because he knew the latter was suffering from a terminal illness.

“Yar’Adua told me he was well. He showed me his medical report and I even consulted experts”, he said.

He said he had only supported the idea of a South-Southerner succeeding Yar’Adua to extend the sense of belonging that the emergence of a Southern President in 1999 represented.

When asked why he chose Jonathan over the charismatic former governor of Rivers State, Mr. Donald Duke, Obsanjo said, “In my own life, I don’t put all my eggs in one basket. Duke was young enough to be in the reserve.

“He did not agree with me. Donald Duke is my friend but he needs a little of toning down. He needs to get his feet on the ground”.