Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has revealed why he rejected a move to have a former Kaduna State Governor, Malam Nasir El-Rufai, as his successor.
Obasanjo, who spoke in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, revealed that the former Minister of Aviation, Osita Chidoka, had recommended El-Rufai as his successor, but he brushed it aside.
The former minister of Aviation, who was the keynote speaker at the event, recalled how El-Rufai recommended him to Obasanjo at the age of 34, a move that brought him closer to the presidency and eventually led to his appointment as the Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps
Addressing the gathering, Obasanjo threw a jab at Chidoka for his failure to tell the El-Rufai story.
“Let him tell you. He didn’t mention that he was pushing when I was leaving government that his friend, El-Rufai, should be brought in as my successor,” the former president said.
Obasanjo explained that he brushed aside the recommendation of El-Rufai as his successor because he felt his former minister needed to mature.
“I did not yield to the pressure. Later, he said, ‘I suggested this person, why didn’t you agree?’ I said El-Rufai needs to mature. You remember?
“When I left government and, many years later, he saw the performances of El-Rufai, he came back to me and said, ‘You’re absolutely correct. El-Rufai needed to mature.”