The Media Adviser to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Paul Ibe, has said he regrets ever holding former President Olusegun Obasanjo in high esteem following the latest exchange between the two political figures.
Ibe made the statement in a Facebook post on Sunday, two days after Obasanjo described his decision to choose Atiku as his running mate in the 1999 presidential election as the biggest mistake of his presidency.
Speaking during a fireside conversation with veteran entertainer and activist Charles Oputa, popularly known as Charly Boy, in Lagos on Friday, Obasanjo said he would not have selected Atiku as his deputy if he had known him better at the time.
Reacting, Ibe urged Nigerians to read Bitter-Sweet: My Life with Obasanjo, a 2008 memoir written by Obasanjo’s first wife, Oluremi Obasanjo. He described the book as a reflection of the former president’s private life, claiming it contains allegations of domestic abuse and other personal controversies.
According to Ibe, the allegations contained in the memoir changed his perception of Obasanjo. He accused the former president of hypocrisy, double standards and high-handedness, arguing that someone facing such allegations should not be quick to criticise others.
Ibe said if he had known what he now knows about Obasanjo, he would never have admired him, adding that the former president’s actions and conduct had diminished the respect he once had for him.
The latest exchange is the newest chapter in the long-running political rivalry between Obasanjo and Atiku, who served together as president and vice president after winning the 1999 election on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Their relationship later deteriorated during Obasanjo’s second term, leading to years of public disagreements.