Former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo has rejected long-standing allegations that he tried to extend his presidency beyond two terms, insisting he never sought a third term.
Obasanjo made the remarks on Wednesday during the Democracy Dialogue organized by the Goodluck Jonathan Foundation in Accra, stressing that there was no proof to back the claims.
“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,” he said.
He argued that securing debt relief for Nigeria during his tenure was a much tougher task than attempting to stay in power longer.
“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 also cautioned leaders against holding on to power, warning that such attitudes stem from a false belief in their own indispensability.
“I know that the best is done when you are young, ideal, 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.”
