PRESIDENCY officials have hit back at former president Chief Olusegun Obasanjo for likening President Goodluck Jonathan to former Ivorian leader Laurent Gbagbo who had to be forced out of State House at gunpoint after losing elections.

 Chief Obasanjo had likened President Jonathan to Mr Gbagbo, following the postponement of general elections which was supposed to be held across the country today.  He declared that the postponement was a big shock and surprise to him, adding that the Independent National Electoral Commission (Inec) was forced to shift the polls by a government insistent on holding on to power at all costs.

 Openly endorsing General Muhammadu Buhari in the rescheduled 28 March elections, Chief Obasanjo said President Jonathan does not have the leadership qualities of his rivals. In a bitter response, President Jonathan's spokesman Dr Reuben Abati, decried what he called the false claims and allegations reportedly made by Chief Obasanjo, describing the attack as very odious and repugnant.

 Dr Abati said: “As we have had cause to say before, it is most regrettable indeed that a man like Chief Obasanjo, who should know better, chooses to repeatedly, wantonly and maliciously impugn the integrity of a sitting president of his country for the primary purpose of self-promotion. It is obvious from Chief Obasanjo’s serial vituperations against President Jonathan who is doing his best to positively transform Nigeria for the benefit of all of its people that he has wilfully chosen to close his eyes to the present administration’s good works and intentions.

 "For reasons best known to him, Chief Obasanjo has set his mind on regime change by fair or foul means. Otherwise, it would be completely senseless, irrational and out of place for Chief Obasanjo, who still claims to belong to the same party as the president, to accuse President Jonathan of plotting to win the rescheduled presidential elections by hook or crook and planning to plunge the nation into crisis if he loses the election."

 He added that President Jonathan has no such intentions and will continue to give the greatest possible support to Inec and other relevant federal agencies to ensure that the rescheduled elections are successfully conducted. Dr Abati said President Jonathan remains faithful to his oath of office and it is Chief Obasanjo who is scheming to plunge the country into chaos in pursuit of a selfish and highly egocentric agenda.

 According to Dr Abati, the vast majority of Nigerians who are patriotic and right-thinking cannot be fooled by Chief Obasanjo’s antics. He added that President Jonathan stands by his commitment, which he reaffirmed on national television last Wednesday that on his watch, all elections in Nigeria, will be free, fair and credible and that all certified election results will be respected.