How former Bauchi Gov contributed to making me president – Olusegun Obasanjo

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has disclosed how former Governor of Bauchi State, Adamu Mu’azu contributed in making him President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

NaijaOnPoint.com.ng (NOP) reports ex-President Obasanjo made the disclosure on Sunday while commissioning projects in Bauchi on the invitation of the State Governor, Bala Muhammed.

Making the disclosure, Obasanjo recalled how former Governor Mu’azu released his residence for the use of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) for the national convention of the party that was held in Jos, Plateau State in 1999.

He stressed that singular act made the difference for him and that Mu’azu was also a go-to person when there were storms during his administration, adding that though they were not perfect, they were able to make a difference in government.

“The contribution that you personally made was very significant to making me a president of Nigeria. It was your residence in Jos that you gave in 1999 for the Jos convention for PDP where I was elected as the candidate of PDP for presidential election of that year.

“If you had not given us the use of that house, which served us very well, maybe the story would have been different. I cannot be thankful enough to you and I will continue to be thankful to you. Not only that, any time there was a bit of a storm, you were one of those I relied upon to take the battle to the others.

“But, one good thing was that we were not perfect, we were not saints, but we were committed and we were not self-centred nor selfish. We were patriotic and nationalistic and the difference was clear and it is clear even today.

“So, to people like you, I will continue to say, thank you for joining hands with me to take Nigeria to where we were able to take it between 1999 and 2007,” Obasanjo said.

How my administration favoured Bauchi State – Ex-President Obasanjo

Former President Obasanjo also recalled an inadvertent mistake made by his government, which led to him subsequently making himself the representative of Bauchi State during his administration.

Obasanjo said that making himself the representative of Bauchi State during his administration, favoured the State more than what they would have gotten if they had a Bauchi State son or daughter representing them in the government.

“When I described former Governor Mu’azu as my colleague, he shook his head. He said he was never my colleague. So, I will then describe the present Governor of Bauchi State as a man who is following the path I and former Governor Mu’azu has followed. Maybe he will not shake his head,” Obasanjo said.

He stated further: “Two people in their statements have called me Omowale, which means, son has come back home and I will say yes because as you have rightly pointed out, there was a time, because of a mistake that was inadvertently made, I made myself a representative of Bauchi State.

“And what was the mistake? We formed a government, and by us not knowing, we found that nobody from Bauchi was in that government. So, how do I make an amend? I decided to make myself the representative of Bauchi State and you good people of Bauchi accepted.

“When you accepted, I had the obligation to make sure that Bauchi State got more than what they would have gotten if they had a Bauchi State son or daughter representing them in my government.

“Not only did we made it a point of duty to locate in Bauchi State projects that might not have come to Bauchi State, we also decided to appoint a son of Bauchi State as Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)”.