Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has once again said he made a mistake by choosing Atiku Abubakar as his running mate in 1999.
Obasanjo led Nigeria twice as military head of state from 1975 – 1979 and as democratically elected president during return to civil rule in 1999. He led the country till 2007
Speaking while addressing some students from a secondary school at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL), Abeokuta, Ogun State, he disclosed that he had made many “genuine mistakes” in his life; saying, however, that God made him overcome them.
“One of the mistakes I made was picking my number two when I wanted to become the president. But because it was a genuine mistake, God saved me,” Obasanjo said.
The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, was Obasanjo’s second-in-command from 1999 to 2007.
While in office, the duo of Obasanjo and Atiku were constantly at loggerheads a situation that nearly jeopardised Obasanjo’s re-election bid in 2003.
Atiku fell out completely with Obasanjo in 2007 and contested for president on the platform of the Action Congress.
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