Obasanjo Declares: I Could Have Secured a Third Term if I Wanted

Long-standing claims that former President Olusegun Obasanjo previously attempted to serve more than the two terms allowed by the constitution have been refuted.

Recall that Obasanjo was Nigeria’s leader from 1999 to 2007.

Speaking Wednesday at the Goodluck Jonathan Foundation’s Democracy Dialogue in Accra, Ghana, Obasanjo claimed that neither living nor deceased Nigerians could provide proof that he had ever advocated for a third term.

“I think I’m not a fool,” he said. I know how to approach it if I wanted it, or at least someone thought I did. I contacted him and told him I wanted the third term, but no Nigerian, living or dead, will claim that. Nothing.

If he had been sincere in his pursuit of a third term, the former president contended, he could have achieved debt relief for Nigeria, which he described as a much more challenging accomplishment.

As he put it, “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, I would have gotten a third term too.”

Regarded as one of the most significant accomplishments of Obasanjo’s government, Nigeria obtained a $18 billion debt relief deal from the Paris Club in 2005.

Leaders who believe they are indispensable should be avoided, Obasanjo added, calling such an attitude a “sin against God.”

According to some, no one else will be there until they are. They will go so far as to claim that they have no other partners. That, in my opinion, is a sin against God since, should God take you away—which He may do at any time—someone else will come along and they might perform better or worse,” Obasanjo stated.

The older statesman, who is 87 years old, emphasized that young, energetic, and dynamic leaders are the most effective.

“I am aware that when you are youthful, ideal, energetic, and dynamic, you perform at your best. He said, “You don’t have the best when you are kuje kuje,” or weak or sickly.

Obasanjo’s remarks were said to coincide with continuing discussions about tight-lipped politicians and constitutional manipulation to prolong presidential mandates throughout Africa.