I made a mistake with my choice of vice president in 1999- Obasanjo

Former president Olusegun Obasanjo on Saturday said picking a running mate in the 1999 presidential election was a mistake.

Obasanjo said the second mistake was his refusal to accept an asylum when he was told that the late Head of State, Sani Abacha, wanted to arrest him, the action, he said, could have led to his death .

Olusegun Obasanjo became democratically elected President in 1999 while the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the 2023 elections, Atiku Abubakar, was his vice president twice.

Obasanjo, who did not mention Atiku in his statement, said it was a mistake he made in good faith, but was saved by God.

Mr Abubakar is the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the 2023 elections.

He made the comment while speaking in Abeokuta at a leadership and entrepreneurship mentoring session with selected school students.

“I don’t say I don’t make mistakes – I made many of them,” Obasanjo said.

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“But one thing that has happened to me is that God has never disappointed me. And that is very important.

“For instance, one of the mistakes I made was picking a number two when I was going to become President.

“But because it is a genuine mistake, God saved me out of it.”

Mr Obasanjo, a retired general, also said many people thought joining the army was a mistake.

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“Or when Abacha wanted to arrest me, the American ambassador said that they will arrest me and that America has asked I should be given asylum,” he said. “I said no, I will come home.

“It could have been a mistake because I could have lost my life.

“So many things I could have seen as mistakes, but God saved me from them all.”