Obasanjo: I never sought third term, could have had it if I wanted

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has dismissed the long-running speculation that he once tried to prolong his stay in office, insisting he never pushed for a third term.

Speaking at the Democracy Dialogue organized by the Goodluck Jonathan Foundation in Accra on Wednesday, Obasanjo maintained that the allegations have no basis.

“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 stated.

The former leader argued that the debt relief secured under his administration was a more difficult achievement than extending his tenure would have been.“I keep telling them that, look, 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 said.

Obasanjo also urged leaders not to cling to power, warning that such attitudes reflect arrogance and a misplaced sense of self-importance.“I know that the best is done when you are young, ideal and 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.”