Obasanjo has no succession plan

LAGOS – Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo has denied having a succession plan and said that he has left the matter in the hands of God.

“Only God knows who will succeed me”, Obasanjo, a former military head of state (1976-79) said in a live radio and television interview programme. He said early campaigns by would-be presidential pretenders were diversionary.Since May last year, when he commenced his second four-year term, there has been wide speculation across the country that he might favour a particular candidate to succeed him when his mandate ends in 2007.Some of the politicians often cited as having presidential ambitions are former dictators Muhammadu Buhari (1984-85) and Ibrahim Babangida (1985-1993), Obasanjo’s deputy Atiku Abubakar, and former Lagos military governor Mohammed Buba Marwa.Of the four, only Buhari, who ran against Obasanjo on the All Nigeria Peoples Party ticket in last year’s presidential election, has publicly declared his interest in the presidency.He has filed a suit in Abuja challenging Obasanjo’s victory at last year’s poll.The other three are widely speculated to be working behind-the-scenes but campaign posters of two of them – Babangida and Abubakar – have been found in Abuja and some other cities across the country.- Nampa-AFPHe said early campaigns by would-be presidential pretenders were diversionary.Since May last year, when he commenced his second four-year term, there has been wide speculation across the country that he might favour a particular candidate to succeed him when his mandate ends in 2007.Some of the politicians often cited as having presidential ambitions are former dictators Muhammadu Buhari (1984-85) and Ibrahim Babangida (1985-1993), Obasanjo’s deputy Atiku Abubakar, and former Lagos military governor Mohammed Buba Marwa.Of the four, only Buhari, who ran against Obasanjo on the All Nigeria Peoples Party ticket in last year’s presidential election, has publicly declared his interest in the presidency.He has filed a suit in Abuja challenging Obasanjo’s victory at last year’s poll.The other three are widely speculated to be working behind-the-scenes but campaign posters of two of them – Babangida and Abubakar – have been found in Abuja and some other cities across the country.- Nampa-AFP