Obasanjo’s Bombshell: Why I Refused to Hand Nigeria Over to El-Rufai

Segun Atanda/

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has disclosed that he rejected a proposal to support former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, as his successor in 2007 because he believed El-Rufai needed more time to “mature” before leading Nigeria.

Obasanjo made the revelation on Friday during the second edition of the Ajibosin Platform Annual Symposium in Abeokuta, Ogun State. The former president said he turned down the suggestion despite being under pressure from members of his team, including former Minister of Aviation, Osita Chidoka, who had recommended El-Rufai for the position.

Chidoka, who was the keynote speaker at the event, had earlier narrated how El-Rufai introduced him to Obasanjo at the age of 34 — a meeting that led to his appointment as Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC).

Interrupting Chidoka’s presentation, Obasanjo said with a smile, “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.”

Turning to Chidoka, the former president asked, “No be so?” to which Chidoka nodded in agreement, drawing laughter from the audience.

Obasanjo recounted how he stood his ground at the time: “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?”

According to Obasanjo, Chidoka later admitted that the former president’s judgment was correct after observing El-Rufai’s performance in later years.
“When I left government and, many years later, he saw the performances of El-Rufai, he came back to me and said, ‘You’re absolutely correct. El-Rufai needed to mature,’” Obasanjo added.

The former president, who described El-Rufai, Chidoka, and other members of his cabinet as “individuals with special attributes,” said their contributions were instrumental to his administration’s success between 1999 and 2007.

Speaking more broadly about leadership, Obasanjo lamented the lack of structured training for political leaders in Nigeria.

“It’s only in politics that I found out there is no training for leadership. Even among armed robbers, I was told there is an apprenticeship. But it’s only in politics that there is no training in leadership. That’s not good enough,” he said.

In his keynote address, Chidoka argued that Nigeria’s persistent challenges stem not from a shortage of ideas but from the absence of enduring systems and institutions.

“Leadership finds its true measure not in speeches or charisma but in the systems it leaves behind. Moral conviction must translate into the everyday machinery of governance—rules, routines, and institutions that make competence predictable and corruption difficult,” he said.

Chidoka called for stronger accountability mechanisms that would evaluate leadership performance by measurable outcomes.

“We must make leadership accountable not to rhetoric but to results — track every promise, every budget, every outcome. Strengthen institutions that expose complacency and evaluate government performance,” he concluded.

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