I made a mistake choosing Atiku as my running mate – Obasanjo

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo said he has made many mistakes in his life, but two stand out.

One of the mistakes, he said, was making the choice of who would be his running mate, when he was running for the presidency of Nigeria in 1999.

The other was his refusal to accept an offer for asylum, when he was told that one of Nigeria’s late former Head of State, General Sani Abacha, wanted to arrest him, an action, he said, could have led to his death.

Even though Obasanjo did not mention the ‘running mate’ by name, it was obvious he was referring to Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, who was nominated as his running mate and eventually became the Vice President, when the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the party upon which the former president ran for office in 1999 won the election.

He said, “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.

“The second one was when Abacha wanted to arrest me. When he wanted to arrest me, I was told by the American Ambassador that they would arrest me and that America had asked that I should be given an asylum. I said ‘No’. It could have been a mistake because I could have lost my life.

“I will say there are many things that could have been a mistake but God saved me from them all.”

READ: I rejected political asylum in United States – Obasanjo

The former president spoke on his life and achievements both as a military Head of State and as a civilian president, while answering questions by students from selected secondary schools who participated in the finals of the National Exhibition and Awards, organised by Students for the Advancement of Global Entrepreneurship (SAGE).

The event, held on Saturday at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, Abeokuta, Ogun State, featured presentations and exhibitions of some products made by students of the participating schools.

While speaking on opportunities for the youths to take over the mantle of leadership in the country, Obasanjo said youths can never come into power, if the current trend in Nigerian politics continues.

He said with the “Not Too Young to Run campaign, and you can see that those that are contesting now are between 70 and 80 years old, how can the youths run?”

According to him, “Another thing inhibiting youth from running is the amount of money involved in going into politics. I hope that things should not continue like this.

“I was 39 years old when I became the Military Head of State. Twenty years (23 years) later, I came back as civilian president, but those there now do not want to allow the youths. If things continue like this, I do not know how you can come in.”

The former president also tutored the students to imbibe religious tolerance. He advised them not to see their own religion as superior to that of another person.