2019: Obasanjo insists he wants Buhari out

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has denied media reports that he is neutral in his advice to Nigerians with respect to the 2019 presidential election.

He made the clarification in a statement by his media aide, Kehinde Akinyemi, on Sunday.

‘While Chief Olusegun Obasanjo is in Cairo to attend the maiden edition of the Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF), of which he is Chairman of the Advisory Council, his attention has been drawn to a report by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) with the headline “Atiku: Obasanjo Shifts Political Gear to Neutral.”

“It is disingenuous, if not malicious, for anyone to suggest that Chief Obasanjo was being neutral when he chose not to use the Owu Convention as a platform for political campaign but instead adopt a communal and familial approach in talking to members of his Owu family,” Mr Akinyemi said.

“For the records, and as accurately reported by some media organisations, what the former president said at the convention in Iwo was that while he would not impress any candidates on them, Nigerians should vote for credible candidates who will drive growth and development and make their lives better than it is now.”

According to him, the former president did not suggest his neutrality by saying “only a fool will sit on the fence or be neutral when his or her country is being destroyed with incompetence, corruption, lack of focus, insecurity, nepotism, brazen impunity and denial of the obvious.”

“Chief Obasanjo is no such fool nor is he so unwise,” the aide said.

He urged Nigerians to stop complaining about their current situation and advised that they should and go out to get “beneficial change”.

“If they do not become active and get much needed change of the current administration to a government that will improve the economy, regain the confidence of investors and generally drive growth, development and economic progress with security, what is coming will be much worse than what Nigerians currently suffer.”