Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has taken another jibe at President Muhammadu Buhari when he said since he was not absent from the country for 104 days at once, Nigerians may not know that his then vice president and now presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, acted for him during his short stays outside the country.
Obasanjo, who spoke as Guest Speaker at the Lagos Island Club Quarterly Business Lecture on Wednesday, was referring to Buhari’s medical sojourn in the United Kingdom two years ago.
He said Abubakar had acted as president several times during their eight-year government to have learnt the art of governance.
He said: Abubakar presided over several Federal Executive Council meetings during their regime.
Obasanjo said: “That is not true because he had occasion to preside a few times that I was out of the country on duty.
“On those occasions, he was in charge of the FEC meetings and no Nigerian chief executive has devolved to his deputy as much as I did to Atiku.
“I did not need to designate him ‘acting president’ because the constitution is clear; once the president is not available, the vice president automatically acts with full powers, and he consults when and if he considers it necessary.
“But since I was not absent from home for 104 days at a time, people may not know that Atiku actually stood in for me whenever I was out (of the country).
“You have a man who has what it takes in experience, exposure, lessons that he has learnt and he has learnt his lessons.
“I tried to teach him a few of them.
“You have a man who has what it takes at this time for us to have a change and we need a change for the better.”