Former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Wednesday said he could vouch for the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to reposition the country.
PoliticsNGR learned that Obasanjo made
the statement in Lagos while speaking at the 2019 Island Club Quarterly
Business Lecture. Abubakar had earlier delivered his lecture themed: “My
vision to get Nigeria Working again”.
Obasanjo, in his remark said he believed that Atiku had the experience, the capacity and passion to move the country forward.
He
said Nigerians should no longer find his support for the former vice
president strange going by what he said or wrote about him in the past.
He reiterated that he stood firmly by whatever he said in the past about Atiku and indeed President Buhari.
He,
however, said the PDP candidate had demonstrated what was expected of a
committed and sincere leader by owing up to his past mistakes and
showing remorse.
Obasanjo added that Atiku had not only
apologised to his political party and the nation, but also apologised to
him for the past disagreements he made as his deputy.
He said
that Atiku was not infallible like every other human being and that he,
(Obasanjo) would be playing God by not forgiving the former
Vice-President.
“I have been called names because of my position on Atiku Abubakar, the Waziri Adamawa.
“Everything
I have said as far as I have knowledge of Atiku, I have not retracted
and I stand firmly by them because they are to the best of my knowledge
true.
“And neither has what I have said and written about Buhari
been controverted, if anything, they have been confirmed and proved
beyond any shadow of doubt.
“But Atiku has done things which are absolutely imperative for a leader to be followed and believed.
“First,
know who you are and present yourself as you are – a human being in
blood and flesh and susceptible to human mistakes and human frailties.
“Don’t
cover up with sanctimonious veneer of bogus integrity,
incorruptibility, uprightness, goodness and false figures and
statistics, all of which are contrived to deceive, to cheat, to plunder
and to destroy.
“Atiku never claimed to be a saint and I never
described him as such. I will never so describe any human being alive
let alone calling him a Messiah.
“On an occasion in the past when I said that someone was not a Messiah, some Nigerians out of bad “belle’’ were up in arms.
“For
me, as a Christian, the only Messiah I know and have is Jesus Christ
and even then, the man aspect of Him was imperfect while the divine
aspect of Him was perfectly messianic.
“Secondly, a leader must be honest to himself and to the people he serves or he wants to serve.
“He
must identify and acknowledge his situation, mistakes, shortcomings and
inadequacy; show remorse where and when he has erred, seek forgiveness
and repent; and not passing the bulk or keep blaming others and fail to
accept responsibility.
“Atiku accepts responsibility for his
mistakes, shows remorse and seeks forgiveness from his political party
and subsequently from Nigerians.
“He asks for forgiveness from me
and as a believer, a Christian as such, I forgave him in accordance
with the teaching and instruction of my Saviour.
“For, if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly father will also forgive you.
“But if you do not forgive men their sins, your father will not forgive your sins (Matt 6:14-15 NIV).
“If
anybody blames me for forgiving Atiku, I leave such a person with God
Almighty, especially as both Christian and Islamic clerics joined Atiku
to visit me to seek forgiveness.
“Anybody who does not forgive
when forgiveness is sought with contrite heart cannot be a true believer
and should not expect the forgiveness of God,” he said.
He said
past disagreements notwithstanding, Atiku demonstrated great leadership
qualities when he was in office as Vice-President.
Obasanjo said
he believed with the experience and courage of Abubakar, he remained the
best candidate to move the country forward.
“I must reiterate
that Atiku is not a saint. Who is? But from what I know of Atiku, he
will be a performer in all respect. I can say that again from my
personal experience.
“He knows the problems and he handled some of them in the past.
“We
now know that both Buhari and Atiku have issues and all of us as human
beings have one issue or the other in different magnitudes.
“But judging both of them empirically and for the task at hand, Atiku will perform much better than Buhari.
“And
he will seek for good and able people around the country and beyond and
make use of them to achieve his mission and vision for the general good
of Nigerians and the country,” he said.
Obasanjo claimed that
the state of affairs under All Progressives Congress (APC) had been
disappointing and called on the citizens to effect a change with their
votes.
He also commended Island Club for providing the platform
for leaders to articulate their visions for the country through the
lecture.
He said the series of the Club’s lecture had helped enriched discourse on nation-building.
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