Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, yesterday, for the first time opened up on the third term agenda in the twilight of his two-term presidency, accusing some Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, governors of being behind the third term project because they were going to benefit from it.
At the launch of his autobiography titled: ‘My Watch’, at the Lagos Country Club, Ikeja, Obasanjo denied seeking a third term but admitted he knew about it.
Obasanjo, who said he was not afraid of telling the truth, insisted that everything he wrote in the book was true.
“People say that it was obvious that I wanted a third term and I ask those who say I was behind the third term to bring concrete evidence to prove that I spearheaded it. I have presented evidence in my book that proves that I was not behind it, even though I knew about it. Some governors were the ones behind it because they felt the governors would benefit from it. If people say that it was obvious that I wanted a third term, they should present concrete evidence to the public that I am telling a lie. I have evidence to prove that everything I wrote is true and anyone that feels otherwise should present concrete evidence to prove his point.
“Third term was not my agenda or intention although I would not say I didn’t know about it. I didn’t mastermind third term. Those who were telling me to go on were the governors that were going to benefit from it,” he said.
Dignitaries at the book launch yesterday were former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Lagos, Ibidapo Obe, former Minister of Education and former VP of the World Bank, Oby Ezekwesili, Prof. Olu Akinkugbe and several others.