Obasanjo endorses General Muhammadu Buhari

Former President and member of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party Chief Olusegun Obasanjo,  made his opinion known during an interview with the Financial Times at the launch of his controversial autobiography titled, ‘My Watch’, in Nairobi, Kenya.

Obasanjo said Buhari, who ruled Nigeria between December 1983 and August 1985, was aware of the challenges of Nigeria today and was qualified to rule the country.

He said, “The circumstances he (Buhari) will be working under if he wins the elections are different from the one he worked under before, where he was both the executive and the legislature – he knows that. He is smart enough. He is educated enough. He’s experienced enough. Why shouldn’t I support him?”

Obasanjo said he was confident that Buhari would be able to effectively tackle corruption and insecurity.

The former President said Buhari would restore the morale of the military which, he said, was needed in the fight against terrorism.

He said President Goodluck Jonathan betrayed the armed forces by allowing corruption to undermine their operations.

He said, “It is a question of leadership – political and military. I think you need to ask Jonathan how he let the army go to this extent. Many things went wrong: recruitment went wrong; training went wrong; morale went down; motivation was not there; corruption was deeply ingrained; and welfare was bad

Olusegun Obasanjo, Nigeria’s former president, has publicly expressed support for the electioneering campaign of Muhammadu Buhari, a former military ruler and presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC). Until now, he had not specifically endorsed Buhari despite openly criticising President Goodluck Jonathan in the last two years. Speaking at the launch of My Watch in Nairobi, Kenya on Tuesday, Obasanjo, who served his two terms as president on the same Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) platform that Jonathan is now running on, also condemned the postponement of the election. “The circumstances [Buhari] will be working under if he wins the election are different from the one he worked under before, where he was both the executive and the legislature – he knows that,” he said. “It’s a question of leadership – political and military. “He’s smart enough. He’s educated enough. He’s experienced enough. Why shouldn’t I support him?” It is the first time that the ex-president has publicly spoken of his support for Buhari. He recently said that he would only speak out on his leaning after the election has been conducted. On the postponement of the election he said: “The signs are not auspicious. I don’t know whether a script is being played.” He criticised the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan, accusing him of wasting the country’s resources. “You need to ask [Jonathan] how has he let [the army] go to this extent,” he said “Many things went wrong: recruitment went wrong; training went wrong; morale went down; motivation not there; corruption was deeply ingrained; welfare was bad.” When asked if he was still nursing further political ambition, he said: “I am an old man and I’m enjoying what I’m doing now… And then you forget I am a farmer; I have to manage my farm.”

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