Former President of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo has revealed that he rejected a proposal to make Malam Nasir El-Rufai, former Governor of Kaduna State, his successor when he left office in 2007.
El-Rufai had served under the Obasanjo administration as Director-General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) before being appointed Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) from 2003 to 2007.
Obasanjo made the disclosure in Abeokuta, Ogun State, during the second edition of the annual symposium of the Ajibosin Platform. He said the recommendation came from Osita Chidoka, a former Minister of Aviation.
“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”, Obasanjo said, referring to Chidoka.
Turning to Chidoka, the former president asked, “No be so [Is that not true]?”, to which Chidoka nodded in agreement.
Obasanjo continued, “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 El-Rufai’s performance, he came back to me and said, ‘You were absolutely correct, El-Rufai needed to mature’.
Obasanjo ultimately chose to support the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua as his preferred successor.
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