Former President Olusegun Obasanjo denied ever seeking a third term, insisting no Nigerian can prove such a claim and cautioning leaders who see themselves as irreplaceable
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has dismissed persistent allegations that he sought a third term in office, declaring that no Nigerian can substantiate the claim. Speaking Wednesday at the Democracy Dialogue of the Goodluck Jonathan Foundation in Accra, Ghana, Obasanjo said, “I think I’m not a fool. If I wanted it, some thought I wanted it, I know how to go about it. And there is no Nigerian, dead or alive, that will say I called him and told him I wanted the third term. None.”
He argued that negotiating debt relief for Nigeria during his presidency was far more challenging than extending his tenure. “If I wanted a third time, I would have got it too,” he added.
Warning leaders against believing they are indispensable, Obasanjo said such thinking is “a sin against God.” He stressed that dynamic leadership often comes from the young and vibrant, not from those unwilling to leave office, adding, “Somebody else may do better or may do worse, but somebody else will come.”