Date Published: 10/06/11

Controversy trails Obasanjo's alleged letter to Jonathan
…Nation Publishes "a letter"
…Issue Of Forgery In The Mix

Olusegun Obasanjo

 Controversy still trails the purported letter from Former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo  to President Goodluck Jonathan,  on the performance of some agencies and the changes he wanted him to effect .

The Nation newspaper had on Tuesday  claimed  Obasanjo, had in the letter urged Jonathan to sack five heads of Federal Government agencies. The men are of Northern origin.

 But on Wednesday,  Speaking  with airport correspondents in Lagos, Obasanjo described the report as insane, and insisted that the only letter he ever wrote to Jonathan ,  was the one on national honors. He threatened to drag the newspaper to court.

The newspaper reacted to the threat this morning by publishing the photocopy of the controversial letter on its front page.

However, there is no proof that Obasanjo wrote the letter, even though his name and a semblance of his signature appear at the bottom of the letter.

Said a source " yes, a letter has been published, but issue is how do you confirm it was not a forgery. If a man of Obasanjo"s calibre should write a letter, he should know it could become public, so he would not deny it.. Mere publishing a letter, with name and signature, doesn't conclusively say he did"

In the letter,  Obasanjo purportedly  wrote inter alia: “I have observed with deep concern the continued public outcry over the grossly poor performances of some Federal Government interventionist agencies.”

The former president, according to the letter, recommended the following persons to head the agencies:

Dr. Torpedo Amananaghan from Bayelsa state to head the Petroleum Equalisation Fund, PEF; Dr. Nurudeen Mohammed, Jigawa state — Education Trust Fund, ETF, Mr. Ibangha Nen, Cross River state — Petroleum Technology Development Fund, PTDF, Mrs. Jumai Mohammed Agwai, Niger state — Universal Basic Education Commission, UBEC and Senator Ebenezer Ikeyina, Anambra state — Industrial Training Fund, ITF.

Below is the controversial letter