He’s Not Ready’ — Obasanjo Blasts El-Rufai’s Maturity, Explains Why He Rejected Him

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has revealed that he once declined a proposal to endorse former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, as his successor at the end of his tenure in 2007.....KINDLY READ THE FULL STORY HERE▶

Speaking on Friday during the second edition of the Ajibosin Platform Annual Symposium in Abeokuta, Ogun State, Obasanjo said he turned down the idea because he felt El-Rufai was not yet politically and emotionally mature enough to lead Nigeria at the time.

El-Rufai served under Obasanjo’s administration between 1999 and 2007—first as Director-General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) and later as Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

The revelation came after former Minister of Aviation, Osita Chidoka, who delivered the keynote address, narrated how El-Rufai introduced him to Obasanjo at the age of 34—an encounter that led to his appointment as Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC).

Interrupting Chidoka’s speech, Obasanjo said with a smile, “He didn’t mention that he was lobbying me to make his friend, El-Rufai, my successor when I was leaving office.” Turning to Chidoka, he asked, “No be so?” to which Chidoka nodded in agreement.

Explaining his decision, Obasanjo said, “I refused to yield to that pressure. Later, he came back to ask why I didn’t accept, and I told him El-Rufai still needed to mature. Years later, after seeing El-Rufai’s performance, he admitted that I was right.”

Obasanjo went on to praise both Chidoka and El-Rufai, describing them as bright, capable individuals who brought unique qualities to his administration.

On leadership, the former president lamented the lack of structured training in Nigerian politics. He said, “It’s only in politics that I discovered there’s no training for leadership. Even among armed robbers, I was told there’s apprenticeship. But in politics, there’s none — and that’s not good enough.”

In his address, Chidoka reflected on Nigeria’s governance challenges, stressing that the nation’s problem is not the absence of ideas but the failure to institutionalize good governance.

“Leadership is measured not by charisma or fine speeches but by the systems it builds and sustains. Moral conviction must become part of governance — through rules, institutions, and processes that make competence predictable and corruption difficult,” Chidoka said.

He further called for stronger accountability mechanisms, saying, “We must make leadership accountable not to rhetoric but to results. Build national dashboards, track every promise, every budget, and every outcome — and empower institutions that can evaluate government performance and expose mediocrity.”