Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has declared that he has no preferred candidate for any political office in 2019 general elections.
Obasanjo insisted that he remained an elder statesman with a passion for a greater Nigeria.
He spoke while receiving a youth group from Delta State led by a governorship aspirant, Frank Esanubi, at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL), Abeokuta.
The former president noted that his Coalition for Nigeria Movement (CNM), which was recently launched, was to galvanize the citizens to appreciate their interests and power.
He observed that the various transitions that had taken place in the country since independence neglected the people at the grassroots.
Obasanjo explained that his recent letter to President Muhammadu Buhari was not meant to disrespect or embarrass the president and his office but to articulate his views about the situation in the country and proffer solution.
He maintained that the CNM would remain a socio-political movement, adding that he would cease to be its member once it becomes partisan.
He said, “In the year 2015, I said I would no longer participate in partisan politics. And I still stand by my decision. Everybody, irrespective of his or her political affiliation, is free to come here for advice, I will gladly do that.
“I have no candidate, whatsoever, for any political office. I just believe that things must be done differently in Nigeria to get a different result.
“If you study our transitions since the colonial era, they have all taken place without taking the people of the grassroots into consideration.
“So, CNM is about the people at the grassroots. It is a socio-economic movement where youth and women, especially, will be given the opportunity to appreciate their interests and power. Unlike before, I believe we must put the horse before the cart.
“If the system and the platform sync, I believe Nigeria will get there. And like I said, the moment the Coalition gets involved in candidate-sponsoring or participates in partisan politics, I will opt out of it.”
Speaking earlier, Esanubi said his group’s courtesy visit to Obasanjo was to pay homage to him.
He added that it was also to intimate the former president on the group’s resolve to heed his clarion call for Nigerians to come together under the CNM for a better Nigeria.
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