Former President Obasanjo Speaks On Feud With Tinubu As Lagos Governor

Olusegun Obasanjo, a former president, has discussed his conflict with President Bola Tinubu, who was the governor of Lagos state at the time.

The former Nigerian president spoke while having a conversation with television personality Chude Jideonwo.

When asked about the allegation that he (Obasanjo) attempted to cripple the economy of Lagos, Obasanjo said, “That was absolute nonsense. If he doesn’t know then he doesn’t know anything.

“Is it that one that made him to have ALPHABETA?” Obasanjo added.

Recall that the former governor of Lagos State claimed that he received zero allocation from the federal government when he was governor.

Tinubu governed Lagos state from 1999 to 2007, before contesting Nigeria’s president in 2023, under the All Progressive Congress (APC).

Meanwhile, Obasanjo also revealed that some state governors were involved in the infamous third-term fiasco.

In 2006, a bill seeking to amend the 1999 constitution and extend term limits by another four years, hit the brick walls at the national assembly.

Obasanjo has consistently dismissed seeking to extend his stay in office beyond 2007, saying some governors were behind it all.

On his administration’s stance on anti-corruption and the failed third term bid, the former president said, “The governors, some of them, were doing it for themselves”.

“Because if the president did a third term, they too would have had a chance for a third term.”

In 2004, Segun Osoba, a former governor of Ogun state, criticised Obasanjo for perceived inaccuracies recorded in his book ‘My Watch’, adding that the former president almost “went on his knees” to beg for support for a third term.

A former president and governor during the period, Goodluck Jonathan also confirmed that Obasanjo really wanted a third term, noting that the bid failed due to resistance from the national assembly.

A former senate president, Ken Nnamani, said lawmakers in the fifth national assembly, sacrificed their legislative careers after seeing to the truncation of the controversial third term bid.

On perennial allegations of embezzlement against him, Obasanjo said his forte is raising money and not embezzlement, noting that people who can’t match his acumen should stop castigating him.

Obasanjo ruled Nigeria as military head of state before returning as civilian president, as Nigeria commenced its fourth republic.