Elder statesman Ayo Adebanjo has described former President Olusegun Obasanjo as a failure. Obasanjo had on Monday reiterated that President Muhammadu Buhari had failed Nigerians and as such should not be re-elected for a second term. But in his autobiography titled Telling it as it is, which was presented in Lagos on Tuesday as part of activities to mark his 90th birthday, Adebanjo described Obasanjo’s presidency between 1999 and 2007 as a “tragedy” and a calamity.
“The man who carried on as if he was all-in-all failed woefully on all counts as President. His eight-year tenure (1999-2007) was a tragedy. His scorecard is nothing to write home about. What did he do in eight years? Before he came, we were buying fuel (petrol) for N20 per litre, and crude oil was $23 per barrel. In 2007, under his regime, we were buying fuel at N75 per litre, and crude oil was between $65 and $75 per barrel. In the worst days of Abacha, one dollar was over N120,” Adebanjo wrote.
He also accused Obasanjo of causing the collapse of the AD by picking the late Chief Bola Ige, a member of the AD, as a minister in 1999 against the wish of the party. As far as I am concerned, the moment Bola Ige joined Obasanjo’s government, following his (Bola Ige) loss of AD’s presidential primaries where he polled six votes against Chief Olu Falae’s 17, marked the beginning of the end for the party. In my opinion, these are the scenarios which led to the collapse of the AD,” he wrote.
