Obasanjo Dares Nigerians to Show Proof of Third Term Ambition

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has thrown a challenge to Nigerians, insisting that anyone who claims he sought a third term in office should provide concrete evidence.

Speaking on Wednesday at the democracy dialogue organised by the Goodluck Jonathan Foundation in Accra, Obasanjo dismissed long-standing allegations that he attempted to extend his presidency.

“I’m not a fool. If I wanted a third term, I know how to go about it. And there is no Nigerian dead or alive that would say I called him and told him I wanted a third term,” Obasanjo said.

The former president argued that securing international debt relief for Nigeria during his tenure was a far more difficult task than pursuing a third term.

“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, if I wanted a third term, I would have got it too,” he added.

Obasanjo further warned against leaders clinging to power, describing the belief that no one else can lead as a “sin against God.”

“I know that the best is done when you are young, ideal and vibrant and dynamic. When you are ‘kuje kuje’ you don’t have the best. But some people believe that unless they are there, nobody else,” he said.

“They will even tell you that they haven’t got anybody else. I believe that that is a sin against God, because if God takes you away, which God can do anytime, then somebody else will come, and that somebody else may do better or may do worse.”