"Picking Atiku as VP Was My Biggest Mistake" — Obasanjo
By Victor Idajili
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo says choosing Alhaji Atiku Abubakar as his running mate in 1999 was the biggest mistake he made while in office.
He spoke on Sunday in Lagos during the unveiling of activist Charly Boy’s foundation and his memoir, “999: A Memoir in Tribute to Late Justice Chukwudifu Oputa.”
Asked what single mistake he made as President, Obasanjo didn’t hesitate.
“The man I picked as my running mate, my number two — if I had known him as I came to know him later, I would not have picked him,” he said.
When Charly Boy pressed if he meant Atiku, Obasanjo replied: “My vice president. I don’t know what name you want to give him, but my vice president, I mean that.
If I had known him as I came to know him later, I would not have picked him.”
He added that despite their clashes, Atiku’s actions didn’t derail his administration.
“Thank God his actions and reactions did not overwhelm me or divert my own focus from Nigeria.
There is no bitterness. He did things he believed he should do and God did things he needed to do, which enabled me to achieve what I was able to achieve.”
This isn’t the first time Obasanjo has criticized Atiku publicly. In June 2022, he told secondary school students at an event in Abeokuta that picking Atiku was “one of the many genuine mistakes” of his public life, adding “because it was a genuine mistake, God saved me.”
Tensions between both men peaked during their second term from 2003 to 2007. Just last week, they clashed again after Obasanjo accused Atiku of bribing the late Speaker Ghali Umar Na’Abba with N5 million to push for his impeachment before the 2003 elections. Atiku dismissed the claim as baseless and unfair, noting that Na’Abba is no longer alive to respond.
At the Lagos event, Obasanjo also spoke on the Nigerian Civil War, rejecting claims that it was genocide. He said the war was fought to keep Nigeria together and was painful for everyone.
“The civil war was traumatic to all Nigerians. It hurt some maybe a little bit harder than others, depending on where, but the civil war was bad for all Nigerians,” he said.
He recalled deliberately avoiding bombing civilians in Owerri during the war.
“I did not drop a single bomb inside Owerri, because it would be destructive — it would have killed innocent civilians. I dropped my bombs short of Owerri and beyond Owerri, to warn people that we are coming home,” he said.
Obasanjo also addressed questions about his roots, stating that his parents came from Abeokuta in Ogun State. “I still know our family house there,” he said.
Other dignitaries at the event included former Commonwealth Secretary-General Chief Emeka Anyaoku, 2023 presidential candidate Peter Obi, business mogul Leo Stan Ekeh, book reviewer Dr. Austin Tam-George, and veteran broadcaster Bisi Olatilo.
