Olusegun Obasanjo, Former President, has dismissed long-standing claims that he attempted to extend his presidency beyond two terms, insisting he never pursued such a move.
Speaking Wednesday at the democracy dialogue hosted by the Goodluck Jonathan Foundation in Accra, Obasanjo said no evidence exists 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 leader argued that securing debt relief for Nigeria during his administration was far tougher than seeking tenure extension. “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 said.
Obasanjo also cautioned against leaders overstaying in office, describing it as 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 remarked.
He further warned that such attitudes amount to defying God. “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.”
