2023: I’m done with partisan politics, says Obasanjo

Obasanjo

Ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo says he is no longer interested in Nigeria’s politics and he has no intention to form a new political party as reported by some media houses.

This statement is contained in a release titled, ‘Obasanjo Not Forming Political Party’. It was signed by the ex-president’s Special Assistant on Media Affairs, Kehinde Akinyemi.

Akinyemi said  the former president, who is presently in Kabul, Afghanistan, as a guest of President Ashraf Ghani, has said that the report is false and misleading, maintaining that there was “no plan to float a new political party now or in near future”.

Obasanjo said, “In my part of the world, when you say goodnight in a place, you do not go back there and say good evening. The one who reported that may need to visit Yaba Left. And those who believe it can believe that their mothers are men. I’m done with partisan politics but by my position in Nigeria and in Africa and without being immodest and indeed in the world my door must be opened and it is open to any individual or group of individuals who want to seek my opinion, view or advice on any issue or matter and I will respond to the best of my ability, without being part of that individual or group.”

The release added, “If anything, Chief Obasanjo’s political party today is the party of Nigerians facing insecurity, unemployment, hunger, poverty, and various other challenging issues. It is the party of Nigeria that must be saved, kept wholesomely united in peace, security, equity, development and progress.

Obasanjo became the PDP candidate for the 1999 presidential election, which he won easily. As president, he de-politicized the military and both expanded the police and mobilised the army to combat widespread ethnic, religious, and secessionist violence. Before then, Obasanjo was Nigeria’s military head of state between February 13, 1976, and September 30, 1979.

Since he left office in 2007, Obasanjo has retired to residence in Oke Mosan, Abeokuta, Ogun State, and has made huge contributions to burning national issues ranging from economy, insecurity and education.