REVEALED: ‘Why people say Obasanjo is stingy’ – Ali Baba recounts most memorable joke

Popular comedian, Atunyota Akpobome, popular as Ali Baba, has recounted his “most memorable joke” on the sense of frugality President Olusegun Obasanjo.

Ali Baba recounted his encounter with Obasanjo while speaking on Channels Television’s Sunrise breakfast show on Saturday.

The comedy legend said the former President wanted him to expunge the joke from his book.

According to Ali Baba, his joke on Obasanjo’s supposed frugality remained evergreen.

Recall that Obasanjo was Nigeria’s democratically elected President from May 1999 to May 2007.

But, prior to that, Obasanjo was Nigeria’s military Head of State between February 1976 and October 1979.

Recounting his time with the former President, Ali Baba said, “My most memorable joke would be the one with Obasanjo, that he himself tells; in fact, he said I should expunge it from my book, he wrote the foreword for the book.

“It was the fact that people were saying that he (Obasanjo) was very stingy and he didn’t know that I was making as much money that I was making until the day he stumbled on Audu Ogbeh and Doyin Okupe.

“They were planning an event and he (Obasanjo) stumbled on (the budget) and he said, “Ali Baba, one million (naira) why? That’s what’s he’s been charging since 1999?”

Ali Baba said he had a good laugh and went on to narrate how he introduced the then President during the African Union event in Abuja.

The comedian, however, described Obasanjo’s comment as a swipe, as against compliment, as thought by the AU members.