LAGOS, Sept 21 (The African Portal) – Former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo has dismissed long-standing claims that he sought to extend his presidency beyond two terms, insisting he never made such an attempt.
Speaking on Wednesday at a democracy dialogue hosted by the Goodluck Jonathan Foundation in Accra, Obasanjo said there was no evidence to support the speculation.
“I’m not a fool. If I wanted a third term, I know how to go about it. And there is no Nigerian dead or alive that would say I called him and told him I wanted a third term,” he said.
The former leader argued that securing debt relief for Nigeria during his tenure was a far more difficult task than seeking a constitutional amendment.
“I keep telling them that, look, if I wanted to get debt relief, which is more difficult than getting a third term and I got it, if I wanted a third term, I would have got it too,” he added.
Obasanjo also warned against leaders holding on to power, saying such behaviour was driven by a false sense of indispensability.
“I know that the best is done when you are young, ideal and vibrant and dynamic. When you are ‘kuje kuje’ you don’t have the best. But some people believe that unless they are there, nobody else,” he said.
“They will even tell you that they haven’t got anybody else. I believe that is a sin against God, because if God takes you away, which God can do anytime, then somebody else will come, and that somebody else may do better or may do worse.”
