Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has described his decision to choose Atiku Abubakar as his running mate in the 1999 presidential election as the biggest mistake of his political career, saying he would never have selected his former deputy if he had known him as well then as he came to know him later.
Obasanjo made the remarks in Lagos during the unveiling of activist and musician Charly Boy’s foundation and his memoir, ‘999: A Memoir in Tribute to Late Justice Chukwudifu Oputa’.
Responding to a question about the greatest mistake he made while serving as Nigeria’s president, Obasanjo pointed directly to his choice of vice president, insisting that hindsight had fundamentally changed his assessment of the decision.
Although he declined to mention Atiku by name initially, the former president left little doubt about who he was referring to when pressed during the discussion.
“Mistake when I was in government? The man I picked as my running mate, my number two — if I had known him as I came to know him later, I would not have picked him,” Obasanjo said.
When Charly Boy asked if he was referring to Atiku, he replied: “My vice president. I don’t know what name you want to give him, but my vice president, I mean that. If I had known him as I came to know him later, I would not have picked him.”
Despite the criticism, Obasanjo maintained that he harbours no resentment towards his former deputy. He said their political disagreements did not derail his administration’s agenda, adding that each of them acted according to their convictions while divine intervention enabled him to fulfil his responsibilities as president.
“There is no bitterness. He did things he believed he should do and God did things He needed to do, which enabled me to achieve what I was able to achieve,” the former president stated.
Obasanjo and Atiku served together between 1999 and 2007, but their relationship deteriorated significantly during their second term in office as political differences deepened. The once-close allies eventually became fierce political rivals, with their disagreements extending beyond the end of their administration.
The former president’s latest remarks are consistent with comments he made in June 2022 while addressing students participating in the National Exhibition and Awards organised by Students for the Advancement of Global Entrepreneurship (SAGE) in Abeokuta, Ogun State.
At the time, he also identified choosing his “Number Two” as one of the genuine mistakes he had made in public life, adding that he believed God saved him from the consequences of that decision.
His comments also come barely a week after another public exchange between both statesmen over allegations contained in Obasanjo’s account that Atiku allegedly offered the late former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Ghali Umar Na’Abba, N5 million to facilitate his impeachment before the 2003 general election.
Atiku rejected the allegation, describing it as baseless and unfair, particularly because the late lawmaker was no longer alive to respond.
Beyond politics, Obasanjo used the occasion to reflect on the Nigerian Civil War, rejecting claims that it amounted to genocide. He argued that the military campaign was aimed at preserving Nigeria’s unity and recalled taking deliberate measures to minimise civilian casualties during the recapture of Owerri by avoiding the bombing of the city itself.
The former president also addressed long-standing questions about his ancestry, stating that both of his parents hailed from Abeokuta in Ogun State and that he still knows the family’s ancestral home there.
The event was attended by several prominent Nigerians, including former Commonwealth Secretary-General Chief Emeka Anyaoku, NDC candidate Peter Obi; businessman Leo Stan Ekeh; book reviewer Dr Austin Tam-George; and veteran broadcaster Bisi Olatilo.
