Former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Sunday endorsed the Labour Party standard bearer, Peter Obi, saying he had an edge over other presidential candidates in terms of knowledge, discipline, vitality and character.
The elder statesman, therefore, called on Nigerians to vote for the LP standard-bearer in the February 25 presidential polls.
But his endorsement attracted angry reactions from the All Progressives Congress, the Peoples Democratic Party, Social Democratic Party, the All Progressives Grand Alliance and the African Action Alliance which described his support for Obi as worthless.
The presidential candidates of the APC, Bola Tinubu; PDP, Atiku Abubakar; LP, Obi and the New Nigeria Peoples Party, Rabiu Kwankwaso are the frontrunners in the race to succeed the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) in the poll.
In the 2023 New Year message signed by the former President and made available to newsmen by his aide, Kehinde Akinyemi, Obasanjo described the last seven years of the Buhari regime as horrible and hell on earth for most Nigerians.
The letter partly read, “The last seven and a half years have no doubt been eventful and stressful years for many Nigerians. We have moved from frying pan to fire and from the mountain top to the valley. Our leaders have done their best, but their best had turned out to be not the best for Nigeria and Nigerians at home and abroad. For most Nigerians, it was hell on earth.
“Those of us who are alive should thank God for His mercies, brace ourselves for the remaining few months of this administration and pray and work very hard for an immediate better future – a future of liberation, restoration and great hope and expectation.’’
Appraising the suitability of the presidential standard bearers, Obasanjo accused them of deceit, adding that some of them had been trumpeting what was not realistic in a desperate bid to win the election.
The ex-president expressed anguish over the terrible state of the nation, stressing that the presidential candidates did not realise that Nigeria had been dragged down well below the level it was when he assumed office in 1999.
He admitted that Nigeria was in very bad shape and was tottering on the verge of collapse and break-up when he took office, but the nation, he added, was not faced with the current level of pervasive and mind-numbing insecurity, rudderless leadership, mismanagement of diversity and pervasive corruption and bad economic policies, which he said had resulted in extremes of poverty and massive unemployment and galloping inflation.
“We have had campaigners going up and down the country feeding us with what they mean and what they do not mean, what they understand and what they do not fully understand, what is possible and what is not possible, what is realistic and what is unrealistic, what is true and what is untrue. I believe that we need not be confused or be gullible. Let us be cautious, not to be fooled again,’’ he advised the electorate.
In endorsing the ex-Anambra State governor, the elder statesman said a suitable presidential candidate must have “a track record of ability and performance; a vision that is authentic, honest and realistic; character and attributes of a lady and a gentleman who are children of God and obedient to God.”
Hinting that Obi possessed the attributes and attitudes necessary to successfully directing the affairs of Nigeria at a time like this, Obasanjo expressed support for Obi and called on Nigerian youths to vote for him.