Naming Atiku as My Running Mate in 1999 My Biggest Political Error – Obasanjo

• Former President Olusegun Obasanjo says picking Atiku Abubakar as his vice-presidential candidate remains the greatest mistake of his political career, though he harbours no bitterness over their fractured relationship.

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has described his decision to select former Vice President Atiku Abubakar as his running mate in the 1999 presidential election as the greatest mistake of his political career. Obasanjo made the remark on Friday in Lagos during a fireside conversation with veteran entertainer and activist Charles Oputa, popularly known as Charly Boy. The event was held to unveil Charly Boy’s foundation and his memoir, 999: A Memoir in Tribute to Late Justice Chukwudifu Oputa. The public presentation took place at the Alliance Française de Lagos/Mike Adenuga Centre on Osborne Road, Ikoyi. Reflecting on his years in office, the former president said that while every leader makes mistakes, his choice of vice president remained the one decision he regretted most. “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 sought clarification on 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.”

Despite his scathing assessment, Obasanjo insisted he harbours no personal bitterness toward his former deputy. “There is no bitterness because he did things he believed he should do, and God did the things God had to do, which enabled me to achieve what I was able to achieve,” he added. Obasanjo expressed gratitude that Atiku’s actions did not derail his administration or harm Nigeria. “What I know about him later makes me… thank God because God did not allow his actions and reactions to overwhelm me, or to divert my own focus from Nigeria, or to harm Nigeria even,” he said.

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The former president also addressed recurring discussions about his ancestry, insisting that his family traces its roots to Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital. “I still know our family house there,” he said.

The event drew several distinguished guests, including former Commonwealth Secretary-General Chief Emeka Anyaoku; Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi; businessman Leo Stan Ekeh, who announced donations of N20 million each on behalf of Obasanjo and Chief Emeka Anyaoku; book reviewer Dr. Austin Tam-George; and veteran broadcaster Bisi Olatilo, among other notable personalities.

Obasanjo and Atiku contested the 1999 presidential election on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and jointly governed Nigeria from 1999 until 2007. Their relationship, however, deteriorated during their second term in office following a series of political disagreements. In his memoir, My Watch, published in 2014, Obasanjo accused Atiku of corruption, disloyalty, and placing personal ambition above national interest. Atiku dismissed the allegations, accusing Obasanjo of attempting to rewrite history. The verbal exchanges intensified recently after Obasanjo alleged that Atiku gave former Speaker Ghali Umar Na’Abba N5 million to begin impeachment proceedings against him during his first term. Atiku denied the allegation and accused the ex-president of fabricating claims.

Naming Atiku as My Running Mate in 1999 My Biggest Political Error – Obasanjo

INEC Rejects Jonathan’s 2027 Presidential Nomination Submitted by PDP Faction

• The electoral body insists on electronic submission through its designated portal, dismissing the Turaki-led faction’s manual filing as a violation of established procedures.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has rejected the presidential nomination of former President Goodluck Jonathan for the 2027 general election submitted by a faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) led by Kabiru Turaki (SAN) . The Turaki-led faction had earlier announced that it submitted Jonathan’s nomination alongside the names of its governorship, National Assembly and state assembly candidates to INEC. The group maintained that the submission was carried out manually after it was allegedly denied access to the commission’s electronic nomination platform. However, INEC dismissed the submission, insisting that nominations can only be processed through its designated online portal in line with electoral regulations. Speaking on the matter, INEC’s Director of Voter Education and Publicity, Victoria Eta-Messi, stated that the commission does not recognise manual submission of candidates. “Submission is only done on a dedicated portal as stipulated by our regulations and guidelines please,” she said. Eta-Messi also questioned the basis of the faction’s claim, asking: “If the faction claimed that they were denied access to the code, how did they submit the list of their candidates to the commission?” The commission’s position effectively shuts the door on the nomination submitted by the Turaki faction and raises fresh questions about the validity of the candidates presented by the group.

Despite INEC’s stance, the faction insisted it acted within the provisions of the Electoral Act and accused the commission of creating obstacles for its leadership. National Publicity Secretary of the faction, Comrade Ini Ememobong, said the group was left with no option but to submit its candidates manually after INEC allegedly refused to provide access codes required for electronic filing. “Notwithstanding INEC’s refusal to provide us with the necessary access codes, which is an administrative convenience rather than a legal requirement—we have successfully submitted, manually and in full compliance with the Electoral Act 2026, the list of candidates sponsored by the authentic Peoples Democratic Party,” Ememobong said. According to him, the submission included Jonathan’s presidential nomination as well as the names of candidates for governorship, National Assembly and state assembly positions across the country. He further claimed that the documents were received and acknowledged by officials of the commission despite the disagreement over the recognition of the faction. The PDP spokesman warned INEC against publishing any list of candidates different from those submitted by his group. “Should the Commission publish names other than those lawfully submitted by us… we are exhausting every constitutional, legal and democratic avenue to ensure that our Party is not hijacked or annexed to the ruling party,” he said.

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Ememobong further accused INEC of abandoning its neutral role in the management of the crisis. “The Commission’s actions have regrettably reinforced the growing public perception that it is no longer acting with the impartiality expected of the nation’s electoral umpire,” he said. He alleged that the electoral body failed to disclose critical facts during legal proceedings involving the party and ignored congresses that had allegedly been monitored by its officials. Ememobong argued that the party’s Board of Trustees and a National Executive Committee meeting had constituted an Interim National Working Committee following a Supreme Court judgment that allegedly left the PDP without a recognised national leadership. He claimed that despite formally notifying INEC about the interim leadership arrangement, the commission refused to acknowledge it, forcing the faction to seek legal remedies. The PDP chieftain also criticised a recent Federal High Court judgment connected to the dispute, insisting that the ruling contradicted existing decisions of higher courts. “The judgment… reads more like an appeal on the judgment of the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal. It is clearly inconsistent with the extant decisions of the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal that form the foundation of our case,” he stated. He disclosed that the faction had already appealed the judgment and would challenge what it described as discrepancies between the ruling delivered in court and its Certified True Copy.

The main PDP leadership, backed by FCT Minister Nyesom Wike and led by Abdulraham Mohammed, has rejected the purported submission, describing the move as “illegal and worthless.” The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Jungudo Mohammed, said only a legally recognised leadership with authorised access to INEC’s candidate nomination portal could submit names on behalf of the PDP. He urged Jonathan to publicly distance himself from the faction, warning that his silence could be interpreted as approval. “It is just wishful thinking, and the most unfortunate thing about the whole of this charade is how a respected former president of this country, Goodluck Jonathan, has allowed himself to be ridiculed by this group of recalcitrant and disloyal citizens of this country,” Mohammed stated. Mohammed argued that INEC did not prescribe any manual way of submitting a list of candidates, questioning whether the purported candidates emerged from valid primaries monitored by INEC. He also stated that Jonathan’s continued silence “only means that he is consenting to their charade.”

The PDP faction linked the crisis to what it described as a wider effort to weaken opposition parties across the country. “We were the pioneer target for opposition dismantling and capture… but it has now spread to almost all the opposition parties,” Ememobong said. He warned that any attempt to undermine opposition platforms could have serious implications for Nigeria’s multi-party democratic system. “The current APC-led administration has a blueprint to dismantle all opposition parties in Nigeria, and they are going through with it in phases,” he alleged. Ememobong expressed confidence that the courts would eventually determine the matter in their favour and that Jonathan’s name would appear on the ballot as the PDP presidential candidate.

The faction traced the dispute to a Supreme Court judgment on the PDP’s leadership, saying the party’s Board of Trustees and a requisitioned National Executive Committee meeting constituted the Interim National Working Committee after the ruling left the party without a legally recognised national leadership. The electoral commission’s portal for candidate uploads opened on July 18, 2026, with eight political parties receiving access codes for the exercise. The faction has approached the Federal High Court in Abuja after INEC allegedly refused to recognise the interim leadership despite receiving formal notifications regarding its emergence. The Turaki-led faction has vowed to pursue all legal and constitutional avenues to ensure its candidates are recognised. The group has warned that if INEC publishes names different from those it submitted, it would reinforce public concerns about the commission’s impartiality.

INEC Rejects Jonathan’s 2027 Presidential Nomination Submitted by PDP Faction

Oyo Abduction: Obi Says He Would Have Entered Forest to Rescue Victims If He Were President

• The NDC presidential candidate criticises President Tinubu’s handling of the Oriire school abduction, insisting on decisive leadership and transparency in security operations.

Presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) , Peter Obi, has declared that he would have personally entered the forest where pupils and teachers abducted in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State were held if he were serving as Nigeria’s president. The former Anambra State governor made the remarks during an interview on Afia TV’s State of the Nation programme aired live on Thursday. The abduction occurred on May 15, 2026, when armed gunmen attacked Baptist Nursery and Primary School, Yawota; Community Grammar School, Esiele; and LA Primary School in Ogbomoso, all located in Oriire LGA. Two people were killed during the coordinated attacks, according to the Oyo State Police Command, while no fewer than 45 pupils and teachers were reportedly taken away by the gunmen. The incident forced the Oyo State Government to close schools across four local government areas as security agencies intensified rescue efforts. The victims spent about 56 days in captivity before the Presidency announced on July 10 that they had regained their freedom.

Speaking on the incident, Obi stressed that decisive leadership is crucial in addressing Nigeria’s security challenges, maintaining that he would not have allowed the victims to remain in captivity for weeks under his administration. He insisted that everyone held by the abductors would have been rescued, even if the operation came at a cost. “Days of kidnap of Oyo children. The president did not call the governor. What do you mean? Fifty days. But I’ll be there in two days. Is the bush not in Nigeria? That bush they went in. The bush is in Nigeria. Everybody in that bush will come out. Everybody. There might be casualties, but everybody will come out,” Obi said. He further criticised what he described as the secrecy surrounding security operations in Nigeria, arguing that authorities should publicly demonstrate results after arresting criminal suspects. “And it is time when we say we resolve something. We arrest some people. Parade the people. Let people see them. What is happening? When America or other countries kill people like that, they parade them. They show it. Everybody sees it. In Nigeria, everything is shrouded in secrecy,” he added.

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Recalling his tenure as Anambra governor, Obi said he confronted criminal activities in forests across the state by taking direct action after consulting then-President Olusegun Obasanjo. He said he informed Obasanjo that a particular forest had become a security threat and insisted that criminal elements operating there had to be driven out. Obi also mentioned several notorious criminals who, according to him, were killed during security operations in Anambra while he was governor. He stressed that effective leadership required clear authority and personal responsibility. “No way. It’s either I’m in charge or you people are in charge. I go home. One person must be in charge. And if you’re in charge, if you want to lead, you should be ready to die. If you don’t want to, you go home. One must be in charge,” Obi said.

Obi faulted President Bola Tinubu’s handling of the abduction, claiming the President failed to personally reach out to Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde throughout the more than 50-day ordeal. He had earlier, in a post on his X handle on July 5, alleged that more than 50 days after the incident, President Tinubu had neither contacted Governor Makinde to express sympathy nor discussed efforts to secure the release of the abducted pupils. He had also called on President Tinubu to either resign from office or abandon any plan to seek re-election in 2027, accusing him of failing to demonstrate leadership following the abduction. Drawing a comparison with the 2014 Chibok schoolgirls abduction, Obi recalled that Tinubu was among those who criticised then-President Goodluck Jonathan for delaying contact with the affected governor. “I vividly recall that the current President, Bola Tinubu, led a team of vocal critics who called for President Jonathan’s immediate resignation over the incident, citing his delay in calling the state governor. That call for immediate resignation should actually be the case in this matter,” Obi wrote. Obi further alleged that more than 13 school kidnappings had occurred since Tinubu assumed office and questioned why the President had not personally engaged the governor of the affected state more than seven weeks after the latest abduction. He disclosed that he visited Ibadan on July 3 alongside Professor Pat Utomi to express solidarity with Governor Makinde, during which he learned that the governor had not received any call from the President. “I cannot imagine any issue more important than the lives of our kidnapped children, their teachers and the many other Nigerians being held captive across the country. It is now an indisputable fact that governance has completely collapsed under this administration,” he stated.

President Tinubu, speaking on July 30 while receiving a delegation of traditional rulers from Oyo State led by the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Rashidi Adewolu Ladoja, explained why the Federal Government refused to negotiate with the terrorists. He said security agencies understood the terrain where the victims were held and commended the armed forces for securing the release of the abducted victims. “We refused to pay ransom. We have the geography of the forest. We know what it is,” the President said. He also disclosed that the military was expanding its operational capacity by increasing the number of divisions from eight to 12 to reduce response time and strengthen efforts against insecurity. The President also confirmed that eight of the kidnappers were arrested during the operation, while several others were neutralised.

The rescue operation, which involved the military, police, intelligence agencies and local vigilante groups, took about a month to execute and resulted in the safe return of all 44 victims. The military acknowledged that some of its personnel were killed during the operation. The rescued victims were taken to an undisclosed hospital for medical treatment. Rachael Folawe Alamu, headteacher of Community Grammar School, spoke about the 56-day ordeal she and other teachers and students faced while in captivity deep in the bush, being frequently moved by the kidnappers at night and often walking for several hours. She described how two of her male colleagues were killed by the kidnappers—one soon after their abduction and another in June. “They killed them purposely because they thought it would force the hand of the government to provide them whatever they wanted,” she said. Three men were later sentenced to life imprisonment after pleading guilty to concealing information about the kidnappers and confessing to being members of an affiliate of Boko Haram. Governor Makinde also inaugurated an eight-man Judicial Commission of Inquiry into the abduction to establish the facts, identify any institutional lapses, and recommend measures to strengthen the protection of schools.

Oyo Abduction: Obi Says He Would Have Entered Forest to Rescue Victims If He Were President