Former President Olusegun Obasanjo said only unpatriotic Nigerians will vote for a candidate with bad character.
The former president spoke on Thursday, 18 days after endorsing the Labor Party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi, for the February 25 election.
The former President on January 1 threw his weight behind Mr. Obi, saying he was the best candidate for certain reasons he stated.
Mr. Obasanjo gave his latest advice at an interactive session of Leadership Experience in Africa (TEL-Africa), in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital,
The session was organized by the global TEL-AFRICA with the theme “Executive Decisions, Desperation, and Leadership Development in Africa.”
Reacting to the criticism of endorsing Mr. Obi, the former president said he did not use the word “endorsed”, but only expressed his opinion on the candidates.
He said, “Whether the letter is open or not, what I want is that I will be punished by God if I know what is true and I do not put it in the right place.”
“The word I use is that if one particular candidate has an edge, take it all together and I take the character, I take the track record, I take the vision and I take what is seen in this person as a child of God.
“I said that they all claim to be my mentee and I will definitely not deny it. But if you are my mentee, he also has to admit that I know a little and if I know a little, I must be right…
“I don’t know why people… I have done this before for President Buhari. I said that President Buhari does not know about the economy and it is true and you have seen it. I am not expelling him, but he and he will admit it.
“I say his (Buhari’s) understanding of foreign affairs is also very low because when he was the military Head of State, he said the front line does not extend beyond Nigeria’s borders, it’s a pity.”
While defending the use of language in the new year message, Mr. Obasanjo asked: “Why should you choose Nigerians with character, reputation, life that you would not want for your own children?
“You’re evil, you’re not patriotic or you’re a bad citizen. Then if this is who you are, what do you want God to do with you and that’s the way I see it.
“In the last three days, I have had about 35 young people that I have spoken to and they have all told me that education, security and corruption are their concerns, the question is who can do it?”
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