Obasanjo Mentions Only Area Tinubu is Competing with Buhari

• Ex-president Olusegun Obasanjo has described the tenure of the late Muhammadu Buhari as the worst civil administration in Nigeria’s history
• In one of two publications he launched in March 2025 to mark his 88th birthday, Obasanjo said as a civilian president, Buhari did little or nothing
• Obasanjo described the administration of President Bola Tinubu as one competing with that of Buhari in inefficiency

Legit.ng journalist Ridwan Adeola Yusuf has over 9 years of experience covering politics, elections, and governance in Nigeria.

FCT, Abuja - Former president Olusegun Obasanjo has said the Bola Tinubu administration is currently competing with the late President Muhammadu Buhari's government in terms of inefficiency.

As reported by Daily Trust on Monday, August 25, Chief Obasanjo made the remark in his new book, "Nigeria: Past and Future," one of two publications he launched in March to mark his 88th birthday.

Read also

2027 election: Is Atiku dumping ADC coalition? Aide opens up

'Tinubu competing with Buhari in inefficiency'

Leadership also noted Obasanjo's stance.

In the first chapter, 'From the Beginning Till Now: The Missing Key', Obasanjo reviewed Nigeria’s leaders since independence in 1960, positing that Buhari’s administration was the “worst civil administration regime” in the nation’s history.

Obasanjo wrote:

“Only Bola Tinubu’s administration seems to be competing with Buhari’s for now."

Furthermore, the octogenarian recalled how Buhari had once described late Shehu Shagari’s government as corrupt, self-serving, and rudderless, only to return years later as a democratically elected president without addressing the problems he had identified.

Obasanjo queried:

“Words are cheap, and what needed to be done was left undone during Buhari’s civil administration from 2015 to 2023 – the worst civil administration so far in Nigeria’s history. Maybe those ideas and thoughts were not his; he just read them as written for him. Otherwise, how do you explain the gulf between what he said then and how he governed later?”

Read also

Flashback: “Ooni, Benin monarch superior to Alaafin,” Late Oba Sijuwade declares

That was the first time that Obasanjo would criticise the Buhari and Tinubu administrations.

In November 2024, the presidency responded to Obasanjo over the former president's criticism of President Tinubu’s administration, saying the former president was not an ideal leader to emulate.

It also asked the former president to reflect on the missed opportunities during his time in leadership.

Obasanjo, in a paper he presented at Chinua Achebe Leadership Forum, Yale University, in the United States, recently described Nigeria under President Tinubu as a failing state.

He also criticised Buhari whom he called ‘Baba Go Slow’, a euphemism for sluggishness.

But in reaction, presidential spokesperson Bayo Onanuga said Obasanjo’s “habit of casting aspersions on every subsequent administration has devolved into a recurring pastime, overshadowing the expectation of an elder statesman to join a constructive dialogue on attaining national progress.”

Obasanjo mourns Buhari

Earlier, Legit.ng reported that Obasanjo described the immediate past president Buhari as a patriot who tried his best in the quest to give the country needed progress and development.

Obasanjo said he received the news of the death of his former colleague in the military and ex-president with a heavy heart.

Proofreading by James Ojo, copy editor at Legit.ng.

Source: Legit.ng