Former president Olusegun Obasanjo has lambasted Nigerians, including political elites and the APC regime’s apologists, claiming Nigeria is doing well under President Muhammadu Buhari. Mr Obasanjo said their heads needed to be examined.

“Nigeria is not where it is supposed to be today,” Mr Obasanjo said. “If anyone says it is OK where we are at the moment, then the person’s head needs to be examined.”

Mr Buhari believes his regime is doing well. His media aides, Garba Shehu and Femi Adesina, have repeatedly painted the former military dictator as a born-again ruler and the best president Nigerians have ever had. Among the apologists of Mr Buhari’s regime are information minister Lai Mohammed and junior labour minister Festus Keyamo.

The former president made the remarks while speaking at the Wilson Badejo Foundation’s 15th annual lecture.

Worried about the outcome of the 2023 presidential election, Mr Obasanjo urged Nigerians to pray for God’s intervention.

“My friend, (the) late Ahmed Joda, used to tell me that God has given us everything a nation needs, and there’s no need for prayers because if God has given you everything and you squandered it, then something is wrong,” said the ex-president. 

He added, “I told him that even at that, we still need prayers as a nation because what is good needs prayers and on the other side too, we still need more prayers.”

Mr Obasanjo expressed fears that things could go wrong if Nigerians did not elect the “right choice” in the 2023 general elections. He did not say what the “right choice” could be.

“It is either we make the right choice in 2023 because if we make the right choice, we would get there,” he stressed. “However, if we do not make the right choice in 2023, things would consume us, and we pray against that one.” 

He reiterated that “we must make the right choice in 2023.”