By Ed Malik/A June 28 4.22 PM
The Chairman, Board of Trustees (BOT) of the opposition party, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Walid Jibril has given former President Olusegun Obasanjo 48 hours ultimate to clarify his recent comments where it alleged that he regretted picking Alhaji Atiku Abubakar as Vice in 1999.
Senator Walid Jubril said in news conference in Kaduna on Monday June 27, that the attention of the party has been drawn to a viral remark credited to former president Obasanjo, that he made a mistake in his choice of running mate in 1999. He said that without prejudice to the respect the party has for the former president, it will be a very disappointing low for him if the statement was indeed made by him.
The BOT Chairman said if the former president does not clarify the statement within 48 hours, that he would take it as a challenge to expose him for all his character flaws, saying it is common knowledge that the former president is still bitter and angry with Atiku Abubakar for siding with democracy and truncating his third term agenda.
Senator Jibril said; “I wish to appeal to former President Obasanjo to come out openly to repeat what he has said, “whether or not he was misquoted or meant what was credited to him. Although he has not debunked what was reported, one can assume that what was quoted to have been said by him is correct, but if he fails to openly come out and say which is correct in 48 hours, you will hear the measured response to him,” he threatened.
“There is no doubt Obasanjo may still be angry with Atiku even after helping him to succeed but perhaps for truncating his third term agenda. In any case, Alhaji Abubakar Atuku is our presidential candidate and I can tell you for sure that he will be the President in 2023, Insha Allah”, he prayed.
However, the alleged remark by the former president coming at this time, when Atiku had joined won the ticket to be his party’s presidential flag-bearer, seems to be calculated for impact to put a credibility challenge in the path of Atiku’s ambition.
A public relations consultant, who craved anonymity said, “leaders don’t just say things like that without a reason. Some people draw attention to themselves by igniting a fire of some sort”, saying every Nigerian knows that there’s no love lost between Obasanjo and Atiku.