By Nasir Dambatta
Abuja
Former president Olusegun Obasanjo has denied recent media reports that he has endorsed APC presidential candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari (retd), stressing that he had yet to endorse any candidate for the forthcoming presidential elections, according to agency reports monitored in Abuja.
Obasanjo made the rebuttal while speaking in the United Kingdom, during the launch of his controversial biography ‘My Watch’ which has since been proscribed in Nigeria.
He said: “I didn’t endorse or un-endorse him(Buhari) as such. What I said and I will say it again and I will do it: when the time comes for me to vote, I will consider the track record of all the candidates that are contesting and I will assess and based on my assessment, whoever I believe has the best track record to perform the job of the Nigerian president will have my vote.
“If anybody should know what the job of the Nigerian president requires, I should know. Nigeria has a population of 180 million and you wouldn’t have anybody other than one person or two persons that can run the affairs of Nigeria.
“There are millions who can run the affairs of Nigeria who are not even coming out. So why should you die on behalf of one who is probably performing as a mediocre? What the hell are we talking about? If you love Nigeria, you would look for the best for Nigeria and I don’t believe that at this point in time we have the best for Nigeria.”
It would be recalled that while speaking on Tuesday at the launch of My Watch in Nairobi, Kenya, Obasanjo was said to have said that he would support Buhari.
Obasanjo was also quoted as saying: “The circumstances (Buhari) will be working under, if he wins the election, are different from the ones he worked under before, where he was both the executive and the legislature – he knows that. 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?”
