Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has described his decision to choose former Vice President Atiku Abubakar as his running mate in the 1999 presidential election as the biggest mistake of his life.
Speaking in Lagos during the unveiling of Charly Boy’s foundation and memoir, 999: A Memoir in Tribute to Late Justice Chukwudifu Oputa, Obasanjo said he would never have picked Atiku had he known him better at the time.
“If I had known him as I came to know him later, I would not have picked him,” he said, adding that despite their differences, he harbours no bitterness because Atiku acted according to his convictions while God enabled him to fulfil his responsibilities as president.
Obasanjo noted that his former deputy’s actions did not distract him from serving Nigeria. The former president also revisited his earlier comments made in 2022, when he similarly described selecting Atiku as one of the genuine mistakes of his public life.
