The Presidency has come down hard on former President Olusegun Obasanjo for trying to downplay the impact of infrastructural projects embarked upon by President Bola Tinubu’s administration, particularly the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, in his newly launched memoir: ‘Nigeria: Past and Future’.
Dada Olusegun, Special Assistant to the President on Social Media, accused Obasanjo of attempting to rewrite history while neglecting his own failures while in office.
In a post on his verified X handle, @DOlusegun, yesterday, Olusegun lashed at the former president, stating that his claims in the memoir would “further relegate his integrity as the leader who opened Nigeria to the cankerworms of corruption.”
“By underplaying the importance of the Lagos-Calabar project in his latest book, President OBJ has not only affirmed to those who witnessed his administration’s several failures to address the needs of the country when he had the opportunity, but he has also put in written form a position which generations to come will indeed question,” Olusegun wrote.
He accused Obasanjo of failing to deliver on key infrastructure projects during his eight-year tenure, particularly in his home state of Ogun.
According to Olusegun, the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, one of Nigeria’s most crucial road projects, stagnated for 16 years under Obasanjo and his party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), until former President Muhammadu Buhari revived it.
Olusegun also accused Obasanjo of mishandling Nigeria’s power sector, failing to revive the nation’s refineries, and overseeing a fraudulent privatisation of NITEL.
He argued that Tinubu was now making the tough decisions that past leaders, including Obasanjo, failed to take. “President Tinubu will not be deterred by distractions such as these,” he stated, insisting that Nigerians who prioritise development would remain focused on the administration’s progress.”
Olusegun suggested that instead of attempting to diminish Tinubu’s achievements, Obasanjo should reflect on his own legacy. “President Obasanjo must emulate others before him by returning to his writing board to at least attempt to explain to Nigerians why he failed to help Nigeria transition into a proper country under his leadership,” he said.
