Former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo has refuted long-standing claims that he sought a third term in office, insisting he never pursued such an ambition.
Speaking at a democracy dialogue organised by the Goodluck Jonathan Foundation in Accra, Ghana, Obasanjo declared that no Nigerian, living or dead, could provide proof that he ever solicited support for a third term.
“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,” the former president said.
He argued that his administration’s successful push for debt relief was a far more difficult task than securing an extension of his tenure.
“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 cautioned leaders against clinging to power, stressing that the belief in personal indispensability is dangerous. He described attempts to overstay in office as a “sin against God.”
