Former President of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo, has said that report of a meeting held by some elder statesmen and eminent Nigerians was not made public because they wanted to present it first to President Muhammadu Buhari.
Obasanjo, who spoke to some newsmen today, June 11 in Abuja, explained that the group, under the aegis of Committee for the Goodness of Nigeria (CGN), agreed in principle to formally present their resolutions to President Buhari, before any public disclosure.
“We acknowledged the letter written in response to our own letter informing the President about our meeting and his goodwill message that the outcome of our meeting will be of interest to him.
“We decided that our communique won’t be issued until after submitting our report to the President. We were long on statements but short on action.”
The former President said that anxious Nigerians would soon be aware of the motive of the coalition through its actions, adding: “actions on our part and other people’s part that are of immediate requirements, you will be seeing them.
“We pledge to ourselves to change the narratives. We have to start building confidence and be reaching out. From now on, you will hear from our actions on the outcome of our deliberations.”
Those who attended the meeting were a former Head of State, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar (retd); Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar III, Emeritus Catholic Archbishop of Abuja, John Cardinal Onaiyekan; President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) Dr Samson Ayokunle and CAN National Secretary Barrister Bade Daramola.
Also in attendance were a former National Security Adviser (NSA), Gen. Aliyu Gusau (retd), a former Attorney General of the Federal (AGF), Chief Kanu Agabi (SAN); Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi; and Etsu Nupe, Dr Yahaya Abubakar.
Others were former Minister of Agriculture and Chairman, Arewa Consultative Forum, (ACF) Chief Audu Ogbeh; President, Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Ayuba Wabba; and President of Ohanaeze Ndi’gbo, Prof. Ralph Obiozor among others.
The CGN is a coalition that included the Interface Initiative for Peace led by the Sultan of Sokoto and John Cardinal Onaiyekan; National Peace Committee (NPC) under the leadership of former Head of State, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar (retd) and the Sociocultural Consultative Committee (SCC) led by Chief Olusegun Obasanjo.
