After months of speculation on his choice for the February 25, 2023 presidential elections, former President Olusegun Obasanjo finally declared the Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, Peter Obi as his preferred choice.
The position, contained in a letter dated January 1, 2023, came some 56 days to both the Presidential and National Assembly elections.
However, the duo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and that of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, took strong exceptions to the ex-president’s support, describing it as worthless and of no effect.
Announcing his choice among all the 18 candidates, the former president said the “‘Emi Lokan’ (My turn) and ‘I have paid my dues’ are one and the same thing and are wrong attitude and mentality for the leadership of Nigeria now.”
While Tinubu is famous for his ‘emi lokan’ slogan, Atiku, Obasanjo’s deputy for eight years, is renowned for priding himself as having paid his dues to qualify for the nation’s top job.
Obasanjo
In the letter, Obasanjo described Obi as a needle with thread attached to it from the North and South, saying that he may not get lost.
He said: “May God help, save, protect and sustain Nigeria for all Nigerians, for Africa and for the human race. We can only continue to play politics of ethnicity, religion, region and money bags at the peril of our country and to self-destruction. We need selfless, courageous, honest, patriotic, in short, outstanding leadership with character and fear of God beyond what we have had in recent past.
“None of the contestants is a saint but when one compares their character, antecedent, their understanding, knowledge, discipline and vitality that they can bring to bear and the great efforts required to stay focused on the job particularly looking at where the country is today and with the experience on the job that I personally had, Peter Obi as a mentee has an edge. Others like all of us have what they can contribute to the new dispensation to liberation, restoration and salvaging of Nigeria collectively.
“One other important point to make about Peter is that he is a needle with thread attached to it from North and South and he may not get lost. In other words, he has people who can pull his ears, if and when necessary. Needless to say that he has a young and able running mate with clean track record of achievement both in public and private life.
“I am constrained to write this letter to all Nigerians especially young Nigerians, friends of Nigeria globally as well as our development partners because of the gravity, responsibility and implications of the collective decision Nigerians, both young and old, will be making within the next two months.
“The last seven and a half years have no doubt been eventful and stressful years for many Nigerians. We have moved from frying pan to fire and from mountain top to the valley. Our leaders have done their best, but their best had turned out to be not the best for Nigeria and Nigerians at home and abroad. For most Nigerians, it was hell on earth.
“Those of us who are alive should thank God for His mercies, brace ourselves for the remaining few months of this administration and pray and work very hard for an immediate better future – future of liberation, restoration and great hope and expectation.
“We have had campaigners going up and down the country feeding us with what they mean and what they do not mean, what they understand and what they do not fully understand, what is possible and what is not possible, what is realistic and what is unrealistic, what is true and what is untrue. I believe that we need not be confused nor be gullible. Let us be cautious, not to be fooled again.
“I have interacted with the major contestants and I find it interesting that, in one form or the other, each of them claims to want to do what I did during my Presidency and to take Nigeria back to where it was at the height of my Presidency and immediately after. I was pained that most of them do not realise that the Nigeria of today had been dragged down well below Nigeria of the beginning of my Presidency in June 1999.
“Although at that time, Nigeria was in very bad shape and was tottering on the verge of collapse and break-up. Even then, Nigeria was not faced with the level of pervasive and mind-numbing insecurity, rudderless leadership, buoyed by mismanagement of diversity and pervasive corruption, bad economic policies resulting in extremes of poverty and massive unemployment and galloping inflation.
“For these reasons, I kept pointing out to them that the instruments used in 1999 to 2007 and methodology used will grossly be inadequate for the perilous situation we now find ourselves.
“Without prejudice but with greatest respect to each individual with utmost regard for the best for Nigeria and all Nigerians and from my personal experience, all the major contestants claim to be my mentees. I will not deny such positions since I have worked with all of them directly and indirectly in government.
“I have come to realise a number of factors in character, attributes and attitude that are necessary in the job of directing the affairs of Nigeria successfully and at a time like this. These characteristics or attributes are many but let us be mindful of some key ones together.
“From interaction and experience, and as mentees as most of them claim, I will, without prejudice, fear or ill-will, make bold to say that there are four major factors to watch out for in a leader you will consider to hoist on yourself and on the rest of Nigerians in the coming election and they are what I call TVCP: Track record of ability and performance; Vision that is authentic, honest and realistic; Character and attributes of a lady and a gentleman who are children of God and obedient to God; and Physical and mental capability with soundness of mind as it is a very taxing and tasking assignment at the best of times and more so it is at the most difficult time that we are.
“Let me say straight away that ‘Emi Lokan’ (My turn) and ‘I have paid my dues’ are one and the same thing and are wrong attitude and mentality for the leadership of Nigeria now. They cannot form the new pedestal to reinvent and to invest in a new Nigeria based on an All-Nigeria Government for the liberation and restoration of Nigeria. Such a government must have representation from all sectors of our national life-public, private, civil society, professional, labour, employers, and the diaspora. The solution should be in ‘we’ and ‘us’ and not in ‘me’ and ‘I’.
“Mind you, I reiterate that no human being is an angel let alone a Messiah, but there are elements of these attributes and on comparative basis and by measure of what we know of, and what some of us have experienced from the front-runners, we must assess judiciously and choose wisely. If anybody claims he or she has anything to the contrary, it will be up to him or her to prove to us.
“I pray not to be proved right again in the bad sense but rather to be proved right in the positive and glorious sense of Nigeria becoming what God had created it to be – a land of plenty and prosperity united for common purpose of inclusive society, common security, shared prosperity, equity, egalitarianism, justice, and equal stake in the Project Nigeria with leadership role of Nigeria for the black race and fair share of global division of labour,” Obasanjo further wrote.
Poses challenges to youth
Tasking the Nigerian youth on making the right choice during the polls, the ex-president said: “If we fall prey again, we will have ourselves to blame and no one can say how many more knocks Nigeria can take before it tips over. To be forewarned is to be fore-armed. Future is not emotion. I challenge the youth to arise. Let nobody pull wool over your eyes to divide you and/or segregate you to make you underlings. Nigerian youth, wherever they come from, North or South, East or West need education which is now denied to over 20 million children; Nigerian youth also need skills, empowerment, employment, reasonably good living conditions, welfare and well-being.
“My dear young men and women, you must come together and bring about a truly meaningful change in your lives. If you fail, you have no one else to blame. Your present and future are in your hands to make or to mar. The future of Nigeria is in the same manner in your hands and literally so. If for any reason you fail to redeem yourself and your country, you will have lost the opportunity for good and you will have no one to blame but yourselves and posterity will not forgive you. Get up, get together, get going and get us to where we should be. And you, the youth, it is your time and your turn. ‘Eyin Lokan’ (Your turn).
“The power to change is in your hands. Your future, my future, the future of grandchildren and great grandchildren is in your hands. Politics and elections are numbers game. You have the numbers, get up, stand up and make your numbers count.”
It’s meddlesomeness – Atiku
Reacting to the letter through his campaign organization, Sunday, the former vice president described the former president backing for Obi as inconsequential.
He also lambasted Obasanjo for being inconsistent, also describing him as a meddlesome interloper.
Speaking through the spokesperson of the campaign organisation, Daniel Bwala, the PDP standard bearer said the endorsement is another ploy by the former president to rule Nigeria by proxy.
In an telephone interview with Blueprint, Bwala said: “President Obasanjo over the years has not proved to be the statesman that he is, in the sense of promoting democratic ideals and governance in the country.
“Obasanjo is not the only living president in Nigeria. All these former presidents, if you look at the roles they are playing in nation building, are in a manner that is consistent with fatherhood where you watch a child grow, or you offer advice, but not operating as a meddlesome interloper where you consistently dabble into other areas of government, you don’t give administration’s peace of mind, you want to impose your will. And if your will is not accorded or listened to, you then turn against the administration.
“To begin with, his endorsement Peter Obi is not today. We knew it from the beginning. It is just that he made it public today. We knew each of his moves.
“But the question is why this inconsistency? It is only Obasanjo who wants to impose his will. In 2011, he picked Jonathan because he had his cross with others. He put Jonathan in government but not as soon as 2012/2013, he began to have issues with Jonathan. And then, he began to release scathing allegations against Jonathan through this letter. One is that Jonathan was training 1000 snipers, which was proved to be false. He did all he could under the heavens and contributed to Jonathan’s downfall and the emergence of President Buhari.
“Then, he wanted to push his way and get certain people into the cabinet. Again, he failed in that regard. Then he now turned against Buhari and went and sought the same Atiku that he criticized because he wanted to remove Buhari. That didn’t work. Then the journey goes on.
“Obasanjo has been searching for his third term since 2007. The third term is a time where you either rule directly which is now no longer possible or you rule by proxy. But democracy is not built like that. He is one of the many 200 million Nigerians who have the equal right of one vote. One vote one man and the role he can play as a former president is that of advisory. The procedure and process organized by Democracy are for him to identify with Obi openly and go to the rallies to campaign for him that is democratic process- campaigning, soliciting for the vote from people, not by threatening the unity and everything.
“This is the most despicable of all the letters we have seen. And this is not just one letter; it has always been like that. Isn’t it intriguing? That is an elder statesman whose access to the villa can never be stopped by anybody. You always write a letter when you could go to the President and speak with them. So we consider these as embarrassing. We consider the letter as a subliminal threat to the unity of the country, we consider the letter as, an expression of intimidation, and we felt very, very sorry, that an elder statesman, like Obasanjo, will continue to travel on this part when he has done so in the past, and he did not succeed,” Bwala said.
Speaking further said, the campaign team said: “What has changed, for example, since the last time he supported Atiku? Why did Obasanjo move based on mood swings? Why can’t he identify with principles? Without his support, Atiku/Okowa will win because nobody wants to bring back APC having seen what APC has done in the last seven years.
“The past seven years has been the lowest in our history. Secondly, people do not believe that Peter Obi has the requisite skills to manage a heterogeneous country with so much diversity and problems that were confronted, not talk about whether he can assemble a team or the infrastructure. When you rule these two out, the only person who has the most experience is because he was once a vice president. He has served as the acting president on many occasions, is Atiku Abubakar.”
It’s worthless – APC
In a similar position, the APC presidential candidate described the ex-president’s support for Obi as worthless.
Tinubu said he respects the democratic right of former President Obasanjo to support and endorse any candidate of his choice in any election.
In a statement signed Sunday by Director, Media & Publicity APC Presidential Campaign Council, Bayo Onanuga, Tinubu said: “The endorsement is actually worthless because the former President does not possess any political goodwill or leverage anywhere in Nigeria to make anyone win a Councillorship election let alone win a Presidential election. He is a political paperweight. He is also not a democrat anyone should be proud to be associated with.
“We recall that in 2003 and 2007 general elections when he was a sitting President, Obasanjo used all the coercive instruments of State at his disposal to railroad people into elective offices against the will of Nigerians as expressed at the polls. In 2007, he declared the polls a do or die affair after he failed in his bid to amend our constitution to have a third term.
“From our records, President Obasanjo has not successfully made anyone win election in Nigeria since then. Not even in Ogun State can anyone rely on his support or endorsement to become a governor or councillor.
“We pity Peter Gregory Obi as we are confident that Chief Obasanjo cannot win his polling unit and ward in Abeokuta for Obi in the coming Presidential election on 25 February, 2023.
“Chief Obasanjo’s endorsement is not a political currency Mr. Peter Obi can spend anywhere in Nigeria because he is not a political force, even in his part of the country.
“Chief Obasanjo similarly endorsed Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, Peoples Democratic Party candidate in 2019 against President Muhammadu Buhari. Atiku was walloped by Buhari with a wide margin in the election.
“History will repeat itself in February as our candidate Asíwájú Bola Ahmed Tinubu will equally beat Obi by a large margin. We take a particular notice of the part of the endorsement statement where Chief Obasanjo said none of the presidential candidates is a Saint.
“We want to state here that Chief Obasanjo is not a good judge of character. He is a man who considers only himself as the all-knowing Saint in Nigeria. Over the years, Chief Obasanjo has also convinced himself that integrity, honesty and all good virtues begin and end with him.”
