Why Obasanjo, Tinubu, Atiku should leave political stage — Laolu Akande + Video

Former presidential spokesman, Laolu Akande, has posited that political figures like Olusegun Obasanjo, Bola Tinubu, and Atiku Abubakar should exit the stage, as their decades-long personal feuds and recycled rivalries obstruct progress on Nigeria’s current challenges.

Akande made the position while speaking on the political relationship among the three leaders and revisiting the decades-old disagreements involving Obasanjo and Atiku.

He spoke under the theme: “Obasanjo’s Excesses and Atiku’s Die Hard Ambition, Nigeria Deserves Better.” 

Akande said there were aspects of the relationship among the political heavyweights that many Nigerians were unaware of.

According to him, Tinubu and Atiku belonged to the political family of the late General Shehu Musa Yar’Adua during the Third Republic, while Yar’Adua had served as Obasanjo’s deputy when the latter was military Head of State.

He said this relationship helped Obasanjo access the political influence of the Yar’Adua family ahead of the 1999 presidential election, after which Atiku emerged as his Vice President.

Akande claimed that when the relationship between Obasanjo and Atiku deteriorated after 1999, Tinubu was perceived by the former President as siding with Atiku.

He recalled an encounter at the Presidential Villa when Tinubu, then Lagos State Governor, attended a meeting with Obasanjo alongside the late Professor Akin Mabogunje.

“As soon as Obasanjo sighted Tinubu, he started raining abuses on him even before he could take his seat.

“After a while, Tinubu couldn’t take it anymore and so he responded in kind. And there you have Professor Akin Mabogunje of blessed memory trying to get in between them to stop the verbal hostilities.

“It didn’t work as the altercation continued and that particular meeting was never held,” Akande said.

He argued that the episode was important for younger Nigerians to understand how personal political relationships and disagreements had shaped the country’s politics.

Akande also linked Obasanjo’s recent criticism of Atiku to their longstanding political disagreement.

“So what is happening now with Obasanjo retelling the story of how his greatest regret is making Atiku his Vice President as we approach the 2027 election is a continuation of an old fight.

“We must be bold enough to say Nigeria is greater than both of them,” he said.

According to Akande, Nigerians should question whether the renewed disagreement is about the country’s interest or unresolved differences dating back decades.

“Nigerians must ask, is this about Nigeria or this is about two men who cannot let go of what happened in 1999, 2003 and 2006?

“Because the truth is simple, Nigeria’s future does not belong to Obasanjo and it does not belong to Atiku, it belongs to all of us.”

Akande accused Obasanjo of believing political affairs should revolve around him, although he acknowledged the former President’s role in Atiku’s emergence nationally in 1999.

He also noted that Atiku placed his political structure and financial resources behind Obasanjo during the Peoples Democratic Party primaries and general election.

According to him, Obasanjo again needed Atiku and PDP governors ahead of his 2003 re-election, before their relationship deteriorated further during the alleged third-term bid in 2006.

“Then in 2006, when Obasanjo pushed a third-term agenda, Atiku led the resistance inside the government, leading to a frustration of that immoral bid to twist the constitutional term limits for the president,” Akande said.

While acknowledging that Obasanjo recorded comparative progress as President, Akande criticised aspects of his administration, including the conduct of elections and the handling of internal democracy within the PDP.

“Yes, Obasanjo as president did advance the country comparatively, we must concede that, but his legacy also includes some rather damning developments,” he said.

Akande also turned his attention to Atiku and his repeated attempts to become President, citing his presidential ambitions in 1993, 2007, 2011, 2015, 2019 and 2023.