Obasanjo says he has not endorsed anybody for Aso Rock
Former President, Olusegun Obasanjo, has said some of persons nursing the ambition to contest in the 2023 presidential election deserve to be in jail, were the Nigeria graft agency,Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), living up to its responsibility.
The former Nigerian president made his reservation known during an international symposium held to mark his 85th birthday in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.
The event, which witnessed eminent Nigerians from across the country and beyond was held on Saturday, March 5, 2022, with the theme ‘Africa Narrative with Nigeria Situation’.
Obasanjo said, in his address, that many presidential aspirants from different political parties have paid him visits to seek his blessings and support for their big aspiration for seat in Aso Rock but has not endorsed anyone.
During his speech, Obasanjo used the opportunity to debunk the online stories making round that he has chosen three southern aspirants as his preferred choices for the presidency in 2023.
The former president maintained that it’ll be too premature for him, at this time, to begin to drop names as such can only happen after necessary consultations.
Obasanjo said, “As the quadrennial madness builds a head of steam and the runners and riders crisscross the nation in the quest for nomination as the party flag bearer to the highest office in the land, I read and hear about endorsement and statements in support of candidates that I frankly have not made and forming next political parties that I can never get involved in.
“I was told that social media credited to me the names of three people from the south that I am sponsoring for Presidency in 2023.
“My friend, Professor Ango Abdullahi, who brought this to my knowledge remarked that he did not believe that I made such a statement because it was out of my character. I have neither named names nor stated my position.
“In a situation like the one we are in, I will not rush into naming names without necessary consultations and well-defined principles and criteria. We need to be clear about what Nigeria needs today and why Nigeria needs it. Only then can we answer the question of how that will inform us of the criteria and characteristics for determining who.”
The Owu man argued that some 2023 presidential hopefuls should be cooling their feet in jail if the EFCC and Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) had been adequately backed to perform their duty.
Obasanjo said, “Since 1999, we have changed from one political party or another we have manoeuvred and manipulated to the point that election results are no longer reflections of the will of the people and we seemed to be progressively going back rather than going forward politically, economically and socially.
“We have activities without requite actions and personnel to move us forward. If we continue in the same pattern of recycling, sweet-word campaigning, manoeuvring without the substance of integrity, honesty, patriotism, commitment, outreach, courage, understanding of what makes a nation and what make for development, we will soon have to say goodbye to Nigeria as a nation.
“I cast a cursory look at some of the people running around and those for whom people are running around. If EFCC and ICPC will have done their jobs properly and supported adequately by the judiciary, most of them would be in jail. Any person who has no integrity in small things cannot have integrity in big things.”
In the return of democracy in 1999, Obasanjo ruled Nigeria as civilian president for eight years, though his last days in office was filled with the controversy of tenure elongation and a deadly fight with his Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.
He was also, a one time military head of state between February 1976 and October 1979. He handed over to Shehu Aliyu Shagari, a democratically elected president of Nigeria in 1979, in an election that was riddle with controversy.
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