Tinubu competing with Buhari in inefficiency – Obasanjo

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has taken a swipe at President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, saying his administration is currently the only one competing with that of the late President Muhammadu Buhari in terms of inefficiency.

Obasanjo made the remark in his new book, Nigeria: Past and Future, one of two publications he launched in March to mark his 88th birthday. The second book is titled Lest We Forget: Slavery, Slave Trade, Emancipation and Reparation.

In the first chapter, From the Beginning Till Now: The Missing Key, Obasanjo reviewed Nigeria’s leaders since independence and concluded that Buhari’s administration was the “worst civil administration regime” in the nation’s history.

“Only Bola Tinubu’s administration seems to be competing with Buhari’s for now,” Obasanjo wrote.

He recalled how Buhari had once described Shehu Shagari’s government as corrupt, rudderless, and self-serving, only to return years later as a democratically elected president without addressing the very problems he had identified.

“Words are cheap, and what needed to be done was left undone during Buhari’s civil administration from 2015 to 2023 – the worst civil administration so far in Nigeria’s history. Maybe those ideas and thoughts were not his; he just read them as written for him. Otherwise, how do you explain the gulf between what he said then and how he governed later?” Obasanjo queried.

Reflecting on his lifelong commitment to Nigeria’s progress, the former president said all his writings were intended to inspire national development.

“I have had the honour of serving this country as a military Head of State and later as President. So, it might be said that I have sat on both sides of the fence. Now, I am getting close to my departure lounge, maybe without picking my boarding pass yet,” he said.

Obasanjo also responded to criticisms labelling him hypocritical, saying his conscience remains clear.