Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has disclosed that he chose late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua as his successor because he was the only not corrupt person of all those vying for the position.
Obasanjo made the disclosure while speaking with CHANNELS TV. He said, one of the people who wanted to succeed him in 2007 was “stinkingly corrupt” and that the only way he (Obasanjo) could justify himself before
man and God was to go for Yar’Adua, who, he said, was the only one among the contenders then who was not
corrupt.
Speaking on the illness that claimed the former President’s life before the end of his tenure, Obasanjo said, ”Even if you take your son as your successor, you
are not sure of what he will do when he gets there. Don’t ever kid yourself. What do I know about any successor?
What he presents. When he gets there, he presents it differently.
”We did our best, but if you say our best is not good enough, I will say, when it comes to your turn, do better.
With all the people that are available for successor, what we came up with was about the best that we could think
of at that time.
”One of those who wanted to do the job came to me and said, ‘Sir, I like your job, but I cannot do it the way you are doing it.’ Now, if he had told me that, should I then come and say, ‘okay, come, let me give you the job?’ He had told me that, ‘I like your job, but look, the way you are doing it, I haven’t got the stamina to do it that way.’
Then, what do you expect me to do?
”Or the one that I know that, oh!, this one, before he gets the job, he’s stinkingly corrupt. Now will I be able to
defend myself before God and man if with what I know I give this job or I encourage the man to have this job?”.
