Politics

I don’t know Tinubu’s position in APC –Obasanjo

Published

6 years ago

October 20, 2018

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo says he doesn ’ t know the position Asiwaju Bola Tinubu currently holds in the ruling All Progressives Congress .Obasanjo said this during a programme titled , “The Talk , ” which was aired on a YouTube Channel , “ Voice of the People . ”
The former President had been asked to identify the designations of certain political figures in the country .

He identified Muhammadu Buhari and Prof . Yemi Osinbajo as the President and Vice President respectively , while he also identified Senator Bukola Saraki as the Senate President .

When asked to identify Tinubu , he said, “Oh , Bola? Bola is supposed to be the leader of the APC . I don ’ t know the position of his leadership as you and I are talking . ”

In the interview , which seemed to have been recorded before he openly endorsed the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party , Atiku Abibakar , the former President said he had hoped that Atiku would succeed him as President in 2007.

Obasanjo said this was the reason he gave Atiku a lot of responsibilities but his former deputy made some wrong decisions.

“Atiku didn ’ t want to become even a Vice President ( in 1999) . He was elected as a governor, ” he recalled .

He, however , said his plan was to mentor Atiku to be his successor but his former deputy failed him .

Obasanjo added , “My plan was that he would be given a lot of work to do domestically and Atiku even used to complain that I gave him too much work to do , which was intentional because I wanted him to get to know things .

“My second term was that having prepared him for domestic issues , I would want him to represent Nigeria for one year at the African Union , Economic Community of West African States and the United Nations for a year so that he would be fully prepared , but the first thing I found out was that his judgement was not right on many occasions . ”

The former President , who insisted that Buhari had not done well in government, said as a watchman , he would continue to speak up when things were going wrong.
He said there was the need for Nigerians , especially the youth , to elect leaders that could fit into a “ digital 21 st century post -modern era rather than electing analogue personalities . ”

On the Boko Haram crisis , Obasanjo said after he left office in 2007, his successor ( late Umaru Yar ’ Adua) mismanaged the issue, which caused the group to become terrorists .

Obasanjo said had he been President at the time , Boko Haram would not have become what it is today .

He recalled that in 2011 , with the permission of former President Goodluck Jonathan , he visited the family of Boko Haram founder , Mohammed Yusuf , and other aggrieved persons in the terrorist group and they explained why they were carrying out attacks .

The former President added , “In 2011, I went to Maiduguri . This was after Boko Haram had attacked the UN building in Abuja and I just wanted to know who they were and if they had leaders and what their grievances were .

“I found out that these elements of Boko Haram had been there even while I was in government. And they , through their intermediary , said they were there and I didn ’ t disturb them so they didn ’ t disturb me.

“They were preaching Sharia and that was what they wanted. But, according to them , when I left government, they were being chased and haunted and they lost a number of their adherents and they decided to fight back and even the leader of their sect , Mohammed Yusuf , was killed and his in -law was also killed .
“They went to court to try and get compensation which was granted to them but the state government did not pay . ”