Picking Atiku as my vice-president was a mistake – Obasanjo

Former President of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo, has admitted he made a mistake for his choice of vice president when he was elected as a civilian head of state in 1999.

Obasanjo stated this on Saturday this at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL), Abeokuta, Ogun State.

He was fielding questions from secondary school students in a programme.

While interacting with the students, Obasanjo revealed that he had made many “genuine mistakes” in his life; saying, however, that God made him overcome them.

“One of the mistakes I made was picking my number two when I wanted to become the president. But because it was a genuine mistake, God saved me,” Obasanjo said.

The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, was Obasanjo’s second-in-command from 1999 to 2007.

While in office, the duo of Obasanjo and Atiku disagreed on issues as they went up in arms against each other for years.

Speaking about the second mistake, Obasanjo said he refused an asylum offered to him by the American Embassy when he was about to be arrested by the late former military dictator, General Sani Abacha.

According to Obasanjo, he would have lost his life during the period of his incarceration, but God saved him.

“When Abacha wanted to arrest me, I was told by the American ambassador that they will arrest me and that America has asked that I should be given an asylum. I said no. It could have been a mistake because I could have lost my life.”

The Balogun Owu maintained that God had saved him from many things that could have been a mistake.

On whether the youths could be allowed to rule the nation, Obasanjo expressed worries, stating that youths may never come into power if the current trend in Nigeria continues.

The former president regretted that in spite of the “Not Too Young to Run” campaign, people contesting to rule the nation are between 70 and 80 years old.

“How can the youths run,” he asked, adding that the amount of money involved in going into politics would not allow youths to get to leadership positions.