Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has said he would not have chosen the same running mate for the 1999 presidential election had he known him as well as he later did.
Mr Obasanjo made the remark on Friday during a fireside conversation with veteran entertainer and activist Charles “Charly Boy” Oputa in Lagos.
The discussion formed part of the unveiling of the Charly Boy Foundation and the presentation of the entertainer’s memoir, 999: A Memoir in Tribute to Late Justice Chukwudifu Oputa (Charly Boy’s dad)
Although the former president did not mention Atiku Abubakar by name, he repeatedly referred to “my running mate,” “my number two” and “my vice president.” Atiku was Mr Obasanjo’s running mate in 1999 and served as vice president throughout his administration from 1999 to 2007.
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The pair won the 1999 presidential election on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party and secured a second term in 2003. However, their once-close political relationship later deteriorated, leading to years of public disagreements and competing accounts of what transpired within the administration.
‘I would not have picked him’
Reflecting on decisions he made while in government, Mr Obasanjo said some mistakes that could have had serious consequences were ultimately prevented from overwhelming his administration.
He said: “What I have found in my own life is that what could have been all my life mistakes that could have been fatal, God had taken care of them for me, mistakes when I was in government.
“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.
“My vice president. I don’t know what name you want to give him, but my vice president. What I know about him later makes me thank God, because God did not allow his actions and reactions to overwhelm me.”
Mr Obasanjo did not explain at the event what specific actions or discoveries informed his retrospective judgment.
No bitterness
Despite saying he would have made a different choice, the former president maintained that he was not bitter about the breakdown of their relationship.
He said he was grateful that the conflict did not distract him from his responsibilities or prevent him from pursuing the objectives of his administration.
“Or to divert my own focus from Nigeria, or to harm Nigeria, even. And then there’s no bitterness, because, well, he did things that he believed he should do.
“God did the things that God had to do, which makes me able to achieve what I was able to achieve,” he said.
Long-running political fallout
Mr Obasanjo and Atiku’s relationship has remained a recurring subject in Nigerian politics since they left office in 2007.
Their disagreements became public during the latter years of the administration, with both men subsequently offering conflicting accounts of their working relationship, political ambitions and disputes within the government.
Mr Obasanjo has criticised his former deputy on several occasions, while Atiku has also challenged some of the former president’s claims and assessments of their years in office.
The latest remarks came amid renewed exchanges between the two politicians.
Atiku recently accused Mr Obasanjo of relying on old and disputed claims to damage his political reputation, after the former president revisited an allegation concerning an alleged attempt to initiate impeachment proceedings against him while they were in office.
Atiku argued that allegations involving the late former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Ghali Na’Abba, could no longer be properly tested because the principal figure cited in the account was dead.
Mr Obasanjo’s latest comment did not introduce a new allegation against his former deputy. It instead restated his long-held view that, with the benefit of hindsight, he would have made a different choice of running mate.