Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has been accused by the Presidency for the current state of Nigeria’s democracy.
Bayo Onanuga, President Tinubu’s Special Advisor on Information and Strategy, told reporters on Monday that Obasanjo had a direct influence on the type of democracy the country now practices.
Obasanjo’s influence, he claimed, extended his two periods as president, first as a civilian president from 1999 to 2007, then as a military head of state from 1976 to 1979.
“Obasanjo ought to know that he brought this thing into Nigeria. He was the one who made us adopt it in 1979. He must have seen it as expensive and unsuitable when he governed us for eight years and even wanted an extension for another four years.
“So, the way he is sounding, it is like the man is getting wiser after leaving office,” Onanuga said, reacting to Obasanjo’s post-presidential stance.
The comments by the Presidency follow the former President’s remarks during a high-level consultation on rethinking Western liberal democracy in Africa, conducted at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library’s Green Resort Legacy in Abeokuta.
Obasanjo had criticized Western democracy, claiming that it had not contributed to African development or good governance.
He argued for a reexamination and reform of democracy to better suit African countries, citing the Western model’s disregard for Africa’s history and complexity.
Obasanjo proposed a “Afro democracy” tailored to the needs of the continent.
The former president remarked that one disadvantage of liberal democracy was that it was not indigenous and failed to understand the complexities of multiculturalism and African history.
Recognizing Western liberal democracy’s flaws, Obasanjo described it as a “government of a few people over all the people or population, and these few people are representatives of only some of the people and not fully representatives of all the people.”
He believed that the majority of individuals are constantly excluded, whether on intention or by accident.