The camp of former Vice President and African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has accused former President Olusegun Obasanjo of turning his long-running feud with his former deputy into an election-season ritual, describing his recurring expressions of regret as politically motivated rather than statesmanlike.
The position was made known by Atiku’s media associate, Olusola Sanni, during an interview on Arise Television, where he challenged Nigerians to examine the timing of Obasanjo’s repeated criticism of the former vice president.
According to Sanni, it is no coincidence that the former president’s public regret over choosing Atiku as his running mate in 1999 resurfaces whenever the country draws closer to another general election.
“Whatever it is between former President Olusegun Obasanjo and his former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, I think at this point the country should interrogate the pattern at which the regret keeps coming,” Sanni said.
“Why is it that it is at the twilight of every election that former President Olusegun Obasanjo comes out with these statements about Atiku Abubakar? That, in itself, tells you that it is more political than rational.”
He argued that repeatedly revisiting the same issue points to a deliberate political strategy rather than an objective assessment of history.
“There is a popular saying that you can make a mistake once and be excused for it, but when you make the same mistake twice, it becomes a deliberate action,” he said.
Defending Atiku’s role in the administration that ushered Nigeria into the Fourth Republic, Sanni recalled that Obasanjo had openly acknowledged the former vice president’s contributions after their victory in the 2003 presidential election, insisting that he would not take the credit alone.
He maintained that Atiku played a critical role in the administration and said it was contradictory for Obasanjo to continually condemn a man who served as his deputy in what he described as one of Nigeria’s most successful governments.
“You will recall that it was perhaps the best administration the country has had so far. If you keep condemning the person who served as your vice president, it would not be statesmanly,” Sanni stated.
The reaction followed Obasanjo’s recent remarks that he would never have chosen Atiku as his running mate in the 1999 presidential election had he known him as well as he later came to during their years in office.
Reflecting on their political relationship, the former president said: “The man I picked as my running mate, if I had known him as I came to know him later, I would not have picked him.”
He added that despite their differences, Atiku’s actions did not stop him from pursuing what he wanted to achieve for Nigeria.
The latest war of words has once again brought to the fore one of Nigeria’s most enduring political rivalries. Obasanjo and Atiku won the 1999 presidential election on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), with Atiku serving as vice president for two consecutive terms until 2007.
Their once-celebrated partnership, however, collapsed during Obasanjo’s second term over policy disagreements and the controversial third-term constitutional amendment, which Atiku opposed, leaving behind a bitter political feud that has continued to reverberate through Nigeria’s political landscape.