I don't have any rift with dad for supporting Buhari - Obasanjo's son

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s son Olujonwo yesterday spoke on his decision to back President Muhammadu Buhari’s second term bid.

A peep into future of youths informed his support for the President, he said yesterday.

Olujonwo, who spoke at a media interactive session organised by the All Progressives Congress (APC) Press Corp, said his decision to back Buhari has not created any rift between him and his father.

He said the Obasanjo family remained a united and loving family despite he and the former president supporting different presidential candidates.



Olujonwo has pledged support for President Buhari of the APC and the former president is backing his erstwhile deputy Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The younger Obasanjo, however, said that it will be unfair for anybody to compare the President Buhari administration with the one that was headed by his father.

According to him, both governments came into office under different circumstances.

He said: “When we get to certain point in our lives, you are responsible for the decisions you take. With all due respect, my father is my father and will remain my father despite our political differences.

“At the end of the day, this election will end. Does that stop him being my father? Are you saying we cannot sit down and have dinner together and discuss issues?

“As a nation, we need to progress mentally and quit looking at politics as a do or die or as something yjat separates us. Politics is meant to unite us. We can disagree to agree; we can have genuine argument. You see things from my point of view, I see things from your point of view and we see how we can work together.

“That is the type of politics we are trying to promote and the message we are trying to send across. We are looking to promote certain values in politics. That is why we are in politics. It is very important that we rise above religion, ethnicity and primordial sentiments for the interest of this nation as a whole.

“Politics is not a battle, it is not war. We should stop looking at it from the stand point of who is superior. I have an ideology and an opinion, my father has his and we are not in conflict, we are still a family, a loving family with my dad.”

On whether his father has tried to influence his decision since announcing his support for President Buhari, he said: “I am as an individual and as an adult. I am here as someone who believe in this government. This government is diversifying the economy from an oil based economy and has made agriculture fashionable.

“Today, people talk about farming and no longer look at it in a degrading manner. People now look at the value chain when you talk about farming. For me, it is all about the impact that this government has made. As a nation, we must look beyond oil and think outside the box by looking at other areas which is what this government has come to do.

“Nigeria is a nation blessed in several ways and not just oil and this government is promoting youth involvement in all sectors. As a young man, I am looking at the future and I believe in this government and I am supporting Mr. President. So, I cannot speak for my father.

“Everybody’s parent wanted them to be one thing or the other, probably different from what they are today. But at certain stage in our lives, we choose our part. That does not amount to disrespecting your parents.”

On why he chose to support Buhari, Olujonwo said: “We believe that by promoting the ideology of Mr. President, we are also promoting his achievement. We will be putting the facts forward and allow the electorate to decide what is best for them.

“A lot has been going on in the social media. But, at the end of the day, it is the grassroots that matters. One of the things the President faced when he came into office was the security challenges in this country. Several local government areas were under Boko Haram.

“We will always have security challenges, but it is important that we have a leader who is sincere, trustworthiness and make sure that our resources are applied towards fighting for this nation. You can see that from the successes we have recorded, Mr. President has done a tremendous job within a short time.”

On what he will be telling Nigerians who would want him to compare the Buhari government and that of his father, he said: “I think that will be unfair because what each leader met on ground differ and they came in under different circumstances. It will not be an unfair comparison.”