…Says he was an unknown prisoner when Waziri formed PDP
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo was wrong to publicly criticise his former deputy, Atiku Abubakar, says former Jigawa State governor, Sule Lamido.
He said Abubakar was a major contributor to the platform upon which Obasanjo ran for office in 1999.
Obasanjo and Abubakar were elected as president and vice-president respectively on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), but they endured a fractured relationship that has yet to heal since their reign.
“Obasanjo is a senior man, somebody who is elderly. He has the right to talk down on his own children, but that should be an in-house accusation. He can say: Atiku you are this or that; but when he says it publicly to the country he led, it is wrong”, Lamido said, in a published interview at the weekend.
The former governor was reacting to a statement by Obasanjo a few weeks ago whereby the former Nigerian leader said making Atiku his deputy was a grave mistake but that God saved him.
“I don’t want to sound rude, but when PDP was formed, Obasanjo was in prison, and the formation of the PDP had history”, said Lamido. “We had a group led by Atiku and many others, and also the progressives as symbolised by Solomon Lar, Abubakar Rimi, Jim Nwobodo and many others. It is right to say that when PDP was formed, Obasanjo was not politically known”.
Obasanjo and Abubakar fell out after the latter, looking to succeed his principal, truncated his unconstitutional third term bid. Though attempts have been made to mend their relationship over the years, the portrayal of the Wazirin Adamawa as a deeply corrupt politician by Obasanjo continues to be a sore point in their relationship.
