Obasanjo confirms he has forgiven
Atiku, congratulates him as the next president of Nigeria
Shortly after their closed door
meeting, Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, addressed a press conference where
he announced he has forgiven his former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar and
would be supporting his presidential bid.
Read what he said at the press
conference below.
“Let me start by congratulating
President-to-be, Atiku Abubakar, for his success at the recent PDP Primary and
I took note of his gracious remarks in his acceptance speech that it all
started here.
“Yes, when it started, it was meant
for Atiku to succeed Obasanjo. In the
presence of these distinguished leaders of goodwill today, let me say it openly
that we have reviewed what went wrong on the side of Atiku. And in all honesty, my former Vice-President
has re-discovered and re-positioned himself.
As I have repeatedly said, it is not so much what you did against me
that was the issue but what you did against the Party, the Government and the
country.
“I took the stand I had taken based on
the character and attributes you exhibited in the position you found
yourself. I strongly believe that I was
right. It was in the overall interest of everyone and everything to take such a
position.
“From what transpired in the last
couple of hours or so, you have shown remorse; you have asked for forgiveness
and you have indicated that you have learnt some good lessons and you will mend
fences and make amends as necessary and as desirable.
“Whenever or wherever you might have
offended me, as a Christian who asks for God’s forgiveness of my sins and
inadequacies on daily basis, I forgive and I sincerely advise you to learn from
the past and do what is right and it will be well with you. Obviously, you have mended fences with the
Party and fully reconciled with the Party.
That’s why today, you are the Presidential Candidate of the Party. In addition to appreciating all that the
Party has done for you, may I advise you to work together with all those who
contested for the Party’s flag with you as a team for your campaign.
“There are still areas, nationally and
internationally, where you have to mend fences and make amends. You will know how to handle what is already
out and what may yet be put out by the opposition. But, I am convinced that if you continue with
the attitude that brought you here with these distinguished leaders of
goodwill, with remorse and contrite heart, the rest of the coast within and
outside the country can be cleared. And
if there is anything I can do and you want me to do in that respect, I will do.
“I am sure with the right attitude for
change where necessary, and by putting lessons learned by you to work, you will
get the understanding, cooperation, support and mandate – all at the national level. With Nigerians voting for you, it will mean
that you secure their forgiveness and regain their confidence. It will be with
the hope or assurance of a Paul on the road to Damascus Conversion. After all,
change and conversion are of man. I believe that with a contrite heart, change
is possible in everybody’s life and situation.
“For me, relatively and of all the aspirants
in the PDP, you have the widest and greatest exposure, experience, outreach and
possibly the best machinery and preparation for seeing the tough and likely
dirty campaign ahead through. From what I personally know of you, you have
capacity to perform better than the incumbent. You surely understand the
economy better; you have business experience, which can make your
administration business-friendly and boost the economy and provide jobs.
“You have better outreach nationally
and internationally and that can translate to better management of foreign
affairs. You are more accessible and
less inflexible and more open to all parts of the country in many ways. As Pastor Bakare, one-time running mate of
the incumbent President said, “You are a wazobia man.” And that should help you in confronting the confortable
and shunning nepotism.
“As you know, along the road to where
you are today, many leaders and ordinary people cooperated and overtly and
covertly worked hard. On your behalf, I
thank them all. May their coast continue
to be expanded. And when you become
Nigerian President which, insha-Allah, you will be, remember what we did
together in government – we ran an administration by Nigerians for all
Nigerians where merit and performance count more than blood relationship,
friendship or kith and kin. Although
some time and ground have been lost, you should endeavor to start from where we
stopped and recover some lost ground, if not time.
“Please uphold truth, integrity,
principles, morality and fight corruption, crimes and insurgency. The fundamental law of the land, our
constitution must be scrupulously defended. I make one demand and one demand on
you today, I need you to say before God and man that you will always remain
irrevocably committed to upholding ALL the provisions of the Constitution of
the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the whole country will remain your single
indivisible constituency.
“Constitutionalism, popular
participation and inclusiveness are pre-conditions for reversing the deficits
of the past three and half years. They will ensure abiding faith in our indivisibility,
oneness and faith in the survival of all against none.
“The fundamentals for our development,
economic growth and progress are hard and soft infrastructure. Remember to always give adequate places in
your administration to our youth and women.
“All the authorities involved with the
preparation, all processes and conduct of the election must ensure that the
election is free, fair and credible.
“Once
again, congratulations and I wish you well.
My distinguished brothers and leaders of goodwill, thank you for making
this happen. I will now count on you to
encourage all hands to be on the deck to take Nigeria to the level God has
created it to be – autopilot level.”
