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Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has advised President Muhammadu Buhari not to contest the 2019 presidential election.
Obasanjo was a major supporter of Buhari’s presidential ambition in 2015.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, Obasanjo said Buhari should leave the scene and “play on the sideline for the good of Nigeria”.
His words: “Even the horse rider then, with whom I maintain very cordial, happy and social relationship today has come to realise his mistakes and regretted it publicly and I admire his courage and forthrightness in this regard.
“He has a role to play on the sideline for the good of Nigeria, Africa and humanity and I will see him as a partner in playing such a role nationally and internationally, but not as a horse rider in Nigeria again.
“The lice of poor performance in government – poverty, insecurity, poor economic management, nepotism, gross dereliction of duty, condonation of misdeed – if not outright encouragement of it, lack of progress and hope for the future, lack of national cohesion and poor management of internal political dynamics and widening inequality – are very much with us today.”
READ FULL STATEMENT: Obasanjo explains why Buhari should not contest in 2019
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