Obasanjo reopens rift with Atiku, says picking ex-VP was biggest error 

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has delivered his most scathing public assessment yet of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, describing his decision to choose Atiku as his running mate in 1999 as the biggest mistake of his eight-year presidency.

The remarks deepen the renewed war of words between the former allies at a time political alignments ahead of the 2027 presidential election are becoming increasingly tense.

Obasanjo made the declaration on Friday during a fireside conversation with Charles Oputa, popularly known as Charly Boy, at the unveiling of the Charly Boy Foundation and the launch of 999: A Memoir in Tribute to Late Justice Chukwudifu Oputa.

Asked to identify the greatest mistake he made while serving as president, Obasanjo said the error was choosing a vice whom he later came to regret.

“The man I picked as my running mate, my number two, if I had known him as I came to know him later, I would not have picked him,” Obasanjo said.

When Charly Boy interjected, asking whether he was referring to Atiku, Obasanjo replied, “My vice president. I don’t know what name you want to give him, but my vice president, I mean that.”

Obasanjo said, “If I had known him as I came to know him later, I would not have picked him. Thank God his actions and reactions did not overwhelm me or divert my focus from Nigeria. There is no bitterness. He did what he believed he should do, and God did what He needed to do, which enabled me to achieve what I was able to achieve.”

The latest comments represent a dramatic deterioration in relations between the two men, who governed Nigeria together between 1999 and 2007 before their partnership collapsed into one of the country’s fiercest political rivalries.

Although they later reconciled and publicly reunited on several occasions, their relationship has again unravelled in the run-up to the 2027 elections.

Only days ago, Obasanjo alleged that Atiku attempted to induce the late Speaker of the House of Representatives, Ghali Na’Abba, to support efforts to impeach him while they were in office.

However, Atiku, one of the leading presidential contenders for 2027, has dismissed the allegations and accused Obasanjo of pursuing a hidden political agenda.

He argued that despite publicly projecting support for Peter Obi, Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) presidential candidate, the former president was ultimately positioning another South-West politician for power.

Obasanjo also used the event to reflect on the Nigerian Civil War, insisting that the conflict should not be described as genocide.

“The civil war was traumatic to all Nigerians. It hurt some maybe a little harder than others depending on where they were, but it was bad for all Nigerians,” he said.

He said he deliberately avoided bombing civilian areas during military operations, recalling that during the recapture of Owerri, he ordered air strikes outside the city to minimise civilian casualties.

“I did not drop a single bomb inside Owerri because it would have killed innocent civilians. I dropped my bombs short of Owerri and beyond Owerri to warn people that we were coming.”