Former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo has dismissed long-standing claims that he attempted to extend his tenure beyond two terms, insisting he never sought a third term
Speaking on Wednesday at the 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 stated.
The former president argued that achieving debt relief for Nigeria during his administration was far more difficult than pursuing a tenure extension.
“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 said.
Obasanjo further warned against leaders clinging to power, describing it as a dangerous illusion of being indispensable.
“I know that the best is done when you are young, ideal, 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 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.”
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