There was no holding back.
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has described his decision to select Atiku Abubakar as his running mate in the 1999 presidential election as the biggest mistake of his time in office.
Obasanjo made the remark on Friday in Lagos during a fireside conversation with veteran entertainer and activist Charles Oputa at the public presentation of Charly Boy’s foundation and memoir, 999: A Memoir in Tribute to Late Justice Chukwudifu Oputa.
Reflecting on his years in government, the former president said every leader makes mistakes, but maintained that his choice of vice president remained the one decision he regretted most.
According to Obasanjo, he would not have selected Atiku as his running mate if he had known then what he later came to discover about his former deputy during their years in office.
Speaking during the conversation, he said, “What I have found in my own life is that mistakes that could have been fatal, God had taken care of them for me.”
When asked by Charly Boy to identify a specific mistake from his presidency, Obasanjo replied, “The man I picked as my running mate, my number two. If I had known him as I came to know him later, I would not have picked him.”
Pressed further on whether he was referring to Atiku Abubakar, Obasanjo responded, “My vice president. I don’t know what name you want to give him, but my vice president, I mean that.”
Recall that Obasanjo and Atiku served together as Nigeria’s president and vice president from 1999 to 2007 under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Their political relationship later deteriorated during Obasanjo’s second term, leading to a prolonged public feud that has shaped Nigeria’s political landscape for nearly two decades.
