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Obasanjo is irrelevant to 2019 election, says Presidency

By Timileyin Omilana
12 December 2018   |   2:48 pm
Nigerian government Wednesday said the recent remarks attributed to a former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, remained irrelevant to the February 2019 general elections. "Whoever Obasanjo chooses to support at the 2019 elections is irrelevant, as the former president had publicly changed his mind on the matter so many times over the past few months alone," said…

Obasanjo and Buhari

Nigerian government Wednesday said the recent remarks attributed to a former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, remained irrelevant to the February 2019 general elections.

“Whoever Obasanjo chooses to support at the 2019 elections is irrelevant, as the former president had publicly changed his mind on the matter so many times over the past few months alone,” said presidential spokesman Garba Shehu.

Obasanjo, who supported Buhari in 2015 against Goodluck Jonathan, said in a statement on Sunday that his former ally had done almost nothing to reposition the country.

Buhari emerged after promising to resuscitate the country’s economy, curb the security challenges and also fight against corruption.

But critics like the former president said Buhari’s government has performed way below expectations.

In January, the former president accused Buhari of being nepotistic and said the president was lacking in the requisite capacity to make Nigeria better.

Obasanjo acknowledged his complicity in making a man who he said “is weak in the knowledge and understanding of the economy” the president. He said he thought that Buhari could make “use of good Nigerians in that area.”

However, Shehu urged Nigerians to be wary of the former president, warning that the remarks in the wake of the 2019 election stem from a confused state of mind not deserving of attention.

“Former president Obasanjo denounces one person today and supports that same person the next day,” Shehu said.

“When it pleases him, he brings God into the matter and uses that as his excuse for whatever position he has chosen.”

Shehu added that he was not surprised that newspapers reported Obasanjo expressing neutrality at a weekend forum, only for the former president to express a completely different stance after a day or two.

“We have learnt not to take his utterances seriously anymore.

“We know that the slightest wind can make him change his mind again. After all, this is the same man who publicly tore his party registration card barely four years ago, and he now claims to be backing the same party,” Shehu said.

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