Phrank Shaibu on Sunday accused former President Olusegun Obasanjo of always launching on against Atiku Abubakar whenever a presidential election approaches.

Shaibu, the Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication to Atiku, the African Democratic Congress, ADC, presidential candidate, made the observation interview with DAILY POST.

He was reacting to Obasanjo’s latest attack on Atiku.

Shaibu said Obasanjo dusts off old grievances and repackages personal bitterness as national interest against Atiku during elections.

Obasanjo had claimed that picking Atiku as his vice president was his biggest mistake as president of Nigeria.

However, Shaibu said history cannot be rewritten with resentment and personal vendettas cannot substitute for truth.

He said, “The pattern you have identified is one that Nigerians can also see. It is difficult to ignore the fact that, as every major election approaches, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo resurfaces with fresh attacks against Atiku Abubakar. This time, it was not just his book. At a recent public event, he again declared that choosing Atiku as Vice President was the biggest mistake of his political career.

“There is an African saying that only a fool walks into the same trap twice. If Chief Obasanjo truly believes choosing Atiku Abubakar as Vice President was his greatest political mistake, then he alone must explain why he willingly repeated that “mistake” a second time. More importantly, after their re-election, Chief Obasanjo openly acknowledged Atiku’s immense contribution to that victory and even invited him to stand beside him during his victory acceptance speech. Those are historical facts that neither speeches nor books can erase. Nigerians can draw their own conclusions.

“Whether this is a deliberate attempt to stop Atiku from becoming President or simply part of Chief Obasanjo’s political style is for Nigerians to judge. What is undeniable, however, is the recurring pattern of election-season interventions targeted at one individual.

“Chief Obasanjo’s book is also not a contribution to history; it is a political weapon forged in bitterness and deployed at every election cycle against those he wishes to stop. It is less a memoir than an attempt to settle old scores and rewrite history in his own image.

“Before sitting in judgment over Nigeria’s future, Chief Obasanjo should first make peace with his own household. His family disputes have long played out in the public arena. In a widely publicised open letter, his daughter, Senator Iyabo Obasanjo, described him as “a liar, wife beater, manipulator, [and] two-faced hypocrite” and accused him of orchestrating the failed third-term agenda despite his public denials. She also questioned his moral authority to sit in judgment over others. Those were serious public allegations made by someone who knew him intimately, and they underscore why Chief Obasanjo should exercise greater restraint before presenting himself as Nigeria’s moral compass.

“Nigerians have seen this movie before. As elections approach, Chief Obasanjo dusts off old grievances, repackages personal bitterness as national interest, and hopes to shape the political landscape. But history cannot be rewritten with resentment, and personal vendettas cannot substitute for truth.

“His latest remarks and his book say far more about his inability to let go of the past than they do about the man he seeks to diminish. Nigerians are wiser today. They will judge Atiku Abubakar by his records, his ideas, and his capacity to solve the country’s problems—not by recurring election-season interventions or revisionist narratives.”