2023 Election: Obasanjo vows not to support Atiku, insists it’s Southern Nigeria’s turn to produce President

Former Nigerian President, Olusegun Obasanjo, has berated the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for choosing the former Vice President who served under him, Atiku Abubakar, as its presidential candidate for the 2023 general elections.

Obasanjo said he would not support Atiku because of that.

The former President, who was the Nigerian leader between 1999 and 2007 with Atiku as Vice President, has been going back and forth regarding his support for Atiku.

Obasanjo once expressed regret for choosing Atiku as his running mate ahead of the 1999 presidential election, saying, “One of the mistakes I made was picking my Number Two when I wanted to become the president. But because it was a genuine mistake, God saved me.”

Obasanjo was once quoted as saying that “If I support Atiku for anything, God will not forgive me. If I do not know, yes, but once I know, Atiku can never enjoy my support.”

However, Obasanjo later turned around and endorsed the candidacy of Atiku, saying that he has forgiven him; hence, the former President threw his weight behind Atiku in 2019.

But speaking at his Hilltop home in Abeokuta on Wednesday while meeting with the presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, Obasanjo knocked the PDP for reneging on the existing agreement of the party by choosing Atiku from Adamawa State in Northern Nigeria when according to him, it is the turn of the Southern region to produce the next president.

According to the former president, the PDP’s decision is not politically correct and is against the spirit of the understanding between Northern and Southern Nigeria.

Obasanjo says, “I am very much aware that it’s the turn of the South to produce the next President of Nigeria. I was part of the meeting when the agreement was made between Northern and Southern leaders.

“I am even surprised PDP gave her ticket to another Northern candidate.

“It will be an injustice to the South if the North retains power after eight years of rule. We will do the right thing when the time comes.”