By Emmanuel Nduka
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has regretted picking a running mate in the 1999 presidential election, saying it was a big mistake.
Obasanjo made the comment on Saturday while speaking in Abeokuta, Ogun State at a leadership and entrpreneurship mentoring session with selected school students.
Heritage Times HT recalls that the former President had won the 1999 and 2003 presidential elections, with Atiku Abubakar as his running mate.
“I don’t say I don’t make mistakes – I made many of them.
“But one thing that has happened to me is that God has never disappointed me. And that is very important.
“For instance, one of the mistakes I made was picking a number two when I was going to become President.
“But because it is a genuine mistake, God saved me out of it,” he narrated.
The retired general who also ruled Nigeria during the military era, said many people thought joining the army was a mistake.
“Or when Abacha wanted to arrest me, the American ambassador said that they will arrest me and that America has asked I should be given asylum. I said no, I will come home.
“It could have been a mistake because I could have lost my life.
“So many things I could have seen as mistakes, but God saved me from them all,” he added.
His running mate Atiku, is the presidential flag bearer of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the 2023 election.
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