A former President, Dr. Olusegun Obasanjo has said that he is not neutral in the battle of who becomes Nigeria’s president in 2019.

Obasanjo, who had publicly resolved to work against President Muhammadu Buhari in 2019, said only a fool will be neutral when their country was being destroyed with incompetence, corruption, lack of focus, insecurity, nepotism, brazen impunity and denial of the obvious.

The former President had also declared his support for the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.

Obasanjo denied making such claim in a statement on Sunday by his media aide, Kehinde Akinyemi, adding that he only advised Nigerians to vote candidates who will drive growth and development and make their lives better than it is now.

The statement read, “While Chief Olusegun Obasanjo is in Cairo to attend the maiden edition of the Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF), of which he is Chairman of the Advisory Council, his attention has been drawn to a report by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) with the headline “Atiku: Obasanjo Shifts Political Gear to Neutral.

“It is disingenuous, if not malicious, for anyone to suggest that Chief Obasanjo was being neutral when he chose not to use the Owu Convention as a platform for political campaign but instead adopt a communal and familial approach in talking to members of his Owu family.

“For the records, and as accurately reported by some media organisations, what the former president said at the convention in Iwo was that while he would not impress any candidates on them, Nigerians should vote for credible candidates who will drive growth and development and make their lives better than it is now.

“Only a fool will sit on the fence or be neutral when his or her country is being destroyed with incompetence, corruption, lack of focus, insecurity, nepotism, brazen impunity and denial of the obvious.
“Chief Obasanjo is no such fool nor is he so unwise.”

He said Nigerians “must know that such change will not come if they remain inactive just complaining and complacent and they allow themselves to be deceived by sycophants and enemies of Nigeria.

“If they do not become active and get much needed change of the current administration to a government that will improve the economy, regain the confidence of investors and generally drive growth, development and economic progress with security, what is coming will be much worse than what Nigerians currently suffer.”