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Revealed: Why OBJ is fighting Jonathan 

•Jonathan’s men regain control

Written by  Tayo Babarinde

THE need to regain the control of the party structure, his hold on the government by giving political patronage to his supporters, it has been revealed, are some of the real reasons behind the recurrent attacks launched against  the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan by former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

Sunday Tribune exclusively learnt that the ongoing undercurrent war between the former president and his protege was fuelled largely by what some leaders of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the South-West called the insatiable urge of the former president to control the machinery of government, even after being granted the privilege to nominate some key member of the present administration, which, it was said, he tactically used to deny the South-West region of the expected share in government positions.

Sources revealed to Sunday Tribune that President Jonathan gave his benefactor the honour to nominate his “people” into the cabinet.

The former president, it was stated, brought in some of his men in the guise of their being “technocrats” which did not go down well with some party elders, especially in the South-West.

The South-West elders, many of who worked hard to ensure the victory of President Jonathan in the 2011 elections, felt  short-changed as the positions that should have been reserved for them were said to have been cornered by the former president’s men. A situation that has given rise to the shout of marginalisation in the South-West.

“You cannot blame the president for the marginalisation of the South-West; blame Baba for it,” a powerful PDP chieftain told Sunday Tribune.

“Even when the position of Federal Civil Service Commission became vacant, an important position which has always been occupied by the North, the president gave it to South-West.

But rather than allowing a person with the requisite experience to man the position,  Baba again took it upon himself. He single-handedly nominated a woman to fill the position. There are many other such instances,” narrated the source, who also cited the Speaker of the House of Representatives post zoned to the South-West, which was supposed to be overseen by the former president, but was later hijacked by elements in the opposition with support from PDP members.

Even on the issue of Subsidy Reinvestment Programme (SURE-P) nominations, it was claimed that Baba wielded his influence, such that it almost created a big problem in his home state, Ogun.

“Those who had been pencilled in were removed on supposedly  the orders of Baba, before the president waded in.

“That is the situation. Now, the president wants to be his own man. He has started building bridges of communication, because he realised that there is a disconnect between the governed and those expected to be representing them in  government, especially against the background that his own men are working hard and are being applauded by the people.

“That is the major thrust of the conflict. The president will forever be grateful to Baba. But he should just allow the man to work and not continue to distract him,” the source said, adding that efforts were ongoing to rebuild the cracked PDP machinery in all the states of the federation and that the president’s men were ready confront some cronies of the former president.

They claimed the former Minister of Ediucation, Oby Ezekwesili, was acting on the orders of the former president by launching a tirade against the government.

Accordingly, it was disclosed that the president was not indisposed to the idea of compensating the South-West for the glaring marginalisation of the region is currently suffering in the scheme of things.

“Plans are ongoing to redress the imbalance,” said another source.

“We are positive that something would be done on it,” he said, adding that the former president’s attitude had helped to isolate many key PDP members in the country.

Source:Nigerian Tribune