Former President Obasanjo Breaks Silence, Insists He Never Sought a Third Term, Says “If I Wanted It, I Would Have Got It”

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has firmly denied the long-standing allegations that he once attempted to elongate his stay in power beyond the constitutionally allowed two terms.

Obasanjo, who served as Nigeria’s democratic leader from 1999 to 2007, dismissed the claims while speaking on Wednesday at the Democracy Dialogue organized by the Goodluck Jonathan Foundation in Accra, Ghana.

In a bold declaration, he stated that no living or dead Nigerian can produce any evidence suggesting he lobbied for a third term.

“I think I’m not a fool. If I wanted it, some thought I wanted it, I know how to go about it. And there is no Nigerian, dead or alive, that will say I called him and told him I wanted the third term. None,” Obasanjo said.

The former president argued that his achievements in office, particularly in securing debt relief for Nigeria, proved his ability to accomplish much harder tasks. He maintained that if his goal had truly been to clinch a third term, it would have been well within his reach.

“I keep telling them that, look, if I wanted to get debt relief, which is more difficult than getting a third term and I got it, if I wanted a third term, I would have got it too,” he added.

It will be recalled that under Obasanjo’s leadership, Nigeria negotiated and secured an $18 billion debt relief package from the Paris Club in 2005, a milestone hailed as one of the major achievements of his administration and a turning point in Nigeria’s economic recovery.

Obasanjo also used the platform to caution against leaders who present themselves as irreplaceable. He described such a mindset as a “sin against God,” warning that no leader is indispensable.

“Some people believe that unless they are there, nobody else. They will even tell you that they haven’t got anybody else. I believe that that is a sin against God, because if God takes you away, which God can do anytime, then somebody else will come, and that somebody else may do better or may do worse,” he noted.

At 87, the elder statesman stressed the importance of vibrant, youthful leadership, insisting that the best results in governance come when leaders are still energetic and dynamic.

“I know that the best is done when you are young, ideal, vibrant, and dynamic. When you are ‘kuje kuje’ (weak or frail), you don’t have the best,” he remarked.

His comments come at a time when Africa continues to grapple with the phenomenon of sit-tight leaders, constitutional manipulations, and political maneuvers aimed at extending presidential terms.