Former President Olusegun Obasanjo said on Friday he turned down a proposal to make the former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate in the 2007 election.
El-Rufai served as the Director-General of the Bureau of Public Enterprise (BPE) under Obasanjo.
He was later appointed the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in the dying days of that administration.
The ex-President, who spoke at the second edition of the Ajibosin Platform Annual Symposium in Abeokuta, Ogun State, said he turned down the proposal because of his belief that El-Rufai was not mature enough to lead Nigeria.
He added that a former Minister of Aviation, Osita Chidoka, recommended El-Rufai as his possible successor at the time.
Obasanjo pointed out that he felt at the time, El-Rufai needed more time to grow politically and personally.
The ex-President interrupted Chidoka, who was a keynote speaker at the event, and informed the audience about information he had left out in his presentation earlier.
He said: “Let him tell you. He (Chidoka) didn’t mention that. He was pushing when I was leaving government that his friend, El-Rufai, should be brought in as my successor.
“I did not yield to the pressure. Later, he said, ‘I suggested this person, why didn’t you agree?’ I said El-Rufai needs to mature. You remember?
“When I left government and, many years later, he saw the performances of El-Rufai, he came back to me and said, ‘You’re absolutely correct. El-Rufai needed to mature.”
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