Why I Rejected El-Rufai As My Successor — Obasanjo

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has revealed why he rejected a move to have a former Kaduna State Governor, Malam Nasir El-Rufai, as his successor.

Obasanjo, who spoke in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, revealed that the former Minister of Aviation, Osita Chidoka, had recommended El-Rufai as his successor, but he brushed it aside.

The former minister of Aviation, who was the keynote speaker at the event, recalled how El-Rufai recommended him to Obasanjo at the age of 34, a move that brought him closer to the presidency and eventually led to his appointment as the Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps

Addressing the gathering, Obasanjo threw a jab at Chidoka for his failure to tell the El-Rufai story.

Let him tell you. He didn’t mention that he was pushing when I was leaving government that his friend, El-Rufai, should be brought in as my successor,” the former president said.

Obasanjo explained that he brushed aside the recommendation of El-Rufai as his successor because he felt his former minister needed to mature.

“I did not yield to the pressure. Later, he said, ‘I suggested this person, why didn’t you agree?’ I said El-Rufai needs to mature. You remember?

“When I left government and, many years later, he saw the performances of El-Rufai, he came back to me and said, ‘You’re absolutely correct. El-Rufai needed to mature.”

Obasanjo, however, applauded Chidoka, El-Rufai, and others for their “special attributes,” which he said were the driving forces of his government.

Speaking on the theme of the event, “Importance of Leadership in Governance,” the former president emphasized character, exposure, experience, and training as the hallmarks of good leadership.

Obasanjo said, “It’s only in politics that I found out there is no training for leadership. Even among armed robbers, I was told there is an apprenticeship.

But it’s only in politics that there is no training in leadership. That’s not good enough.”

Delivering the keynote address, Chidoka blamed Nigeria’s challenges on what he called excuses and the politics of alibi.

“Leadership finds its true measure not in speeches or charisma but in the systems it leaves behind.

“Moral conviction must translate into the everyday machinery of governance—rules, routines, and institutions that make competence predictable and corruption difficult.

“Nigeria’s problem has never been a shortage of ideas; it is the absence of systems strong enough to outlive their authors,” he said.

Among the prominent personalities at the event were Senator representing Ogun Central, Shuaibu Salis; the Olowu of Owu Kingdom, Oba Saka Matemilola; the Olota of Ota, Oba Adeyemi Obalanlege; and former Ogun First Lady, Mrs. Olufunsho Amosun.