Obasanjo recants, backs Atikus presidential bid
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whenever or wherever you might have offended me as a christian who asks for gods forgiveness of my sins and inadequacies on daily basis i forgive and i sincerely advise you to learn from the past and do what is right and it will be well with you2 obviously you have mended fences with the party and fully reconciled with the party2 with nigerians voting for you it will mean that you secure their forgiveness and regain their confidence1 others are the pastor and presiding bishop of the living faith church bishop david oyedepo and a kaduna- based islamic cleric sheikh ahmed gumi and ayo adebanjo who represented his faction of yoruba group afenifere1 atiku emerged on sunday in port harcourt as the presidential candidate of the peoples democratic party pdpafter the partys presidential primaries held in port-harcort1 obasanjo hinged his support on the fact that he and atiku had reviewed what went wrong and he believed that the former vice-president had re-discovered and re-positioned himself1 he said his prior position concerning atiku was not personal but based on what he had done against the pdp and the country1 obasanjo had accused atiku of corruption and once said that god would not forgive him if he ever supported atiku. now he has eaten his words1 the elder statesman however said atiku had apologised and he had forgiven him1 from what transpired in the last couple of hours you have shown remorse you have asked for forgiveness and you have indicated that you have learnt some good lessons1 you have also promised to mend fences and make amends as necessary and as desirable1 former president olusegun obasanjo went back on his god will not forgive me vows on thursday and pledged to support atiku abubakars presidential bid as candidate of the peoples democratic party1 some of the people at the meeting were the national chairman of the pdp chief uche secondus former governor of cross rivers state liyel imoke chief bode george bishop of catholic diocese of solo rev. matthew kukah1 thats why today you are the presidential candidate of the party he said1 obasanjo advised atiku to appreciate all that the pdp had done for him and also work together with all other presidential aspirants as a campaign team1 the former president noted that there were both national and international fences for atiku to mend1 i am convinced that if you continue with the attitude that brought you here with these distinguished leaders of goodwill with remorse and contrite heart the rest of the coast within and outside the country can be cleared1 and if there is anything i can do and you want me to do in that respect i will do1 i am sure with the right attitude for change where necessary and by putting lessons learned by you to work you will get the understanding cooperation support and mandate of nigerians1 obasanjo declared his support for atiku while addressing newsmen after a closed-door meeting with atiku some prominent pdp members and some other prominent nigerians1 it will be with the hope or assurance of a paul on the road to damascus conversion. after all change and conversion are of man and i believe that with a contrite heart change is possible in everybodys life and situation1 obasanjo noted that beyond other pdp presidential aspirants atiku possessed for me relatively and of all the aspirants the widest and greatest exposure experience outreach and possibly the best machinery and preparation for seeing the tough and likely dirty campaign ahead through1 he claimed atiku has a better understanding of the economy than president muhammad buhari1 you surely understand the economy better and you have business experience which can make your administration business-friendly and boost the economy and provide jobs1 you have better outreach nationally and internationally and that can translate to better management of foreign affairs1 you are more accessible and less inflexible and more open to all parts of the country in many ways he said1 obasanjo advised atiku to run an inclusive government where merit and performance count more than blood relationship friendship or kith and kin like they both did between 1999 and 20071 please uphold truth integrity principles morality and fight corruption crimes and insurgency1 the fundamental law of the land our constitution must be scrupulously defended1 i make one demand and one demand on you today i need you to say before god and man that you will always remain irrevocably committed to upholding all the provisions of the constitution of the federal republic of nigeria and the whole country will remain your single indivisible constituency1 constitutionalism popular participation and inclusiveness are pre-conditions for reversing the deficits of the past three and half years1 they will ensure abiding faith in our indivisibility oneness and faith in the survival of all against none1 the fundamentals for our development economic growth and progress are hard and soft infrastructure1 remember to always give adequate places in your administration to our youth and women1 all the authorities involved with the preparation all processes and conduct of the election must ensure that the election is free fair and credible he said1 atiku in his opening remarks had described the meeting as historic for him and obasanjo as well as for nigeria1 he reiterated that he could not have become relevant without the training and tutelage from obasanjos leadership1 atiku who described the day as one of the happiest days in his life said it was time for well-meaning nigerians to come together so that the country could be repositioned on the path of unity and prosperity1 he pledged to dedicate and commit his tenure if elected as president to the continuation of the olusegun obasanjo- led administration1

2019: Obasanjo endorses Atiku, says I have forgiven him
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source63 whenever or wherever you might have offended me as a christian who asks for gods forgiveness of my sins and inadequacies on daily basis i forgive and i sincerely advise you to learn from the past and do what is right and it will be well with you2 obviously you have mended fences with the party and fully reconciled with the party2 he said that atiku had re positioned himself enough to now enjoy his support in the next election adding that atiku is the the next president of nigeria1 read full text below1 let me start by congratulating president-to-be atiku abubakar for his success at the recent pdp primary and i took note of his gracious remarks in his acceptance speech that it all started here1 yes when it started it was meant for atiku to succeed obasanjo. in the presence of these distinguished leaders of goodwill today let me say it openly that we have reviewed what went wrong on the side of atiku1 and in all honesty my former vice-president has re-discovered and re-positioned himself. as i have repeatedly said it is not so much what you did against me that was the issue but what you did against the party the government and the country1 i took the stand i had taken based on the character and attributes you exhibited in the position you found yourself1 i strongly believe that i was right. it was in the overall interest of everyone and everything to take such a position1 from what transpired in the last couple of hours or so you have shown remorse you have asked for forgiveness and you have indicated that you have learnt some good lessons and you will mend fences and make amends as necessary and as desirable1 former president olusegun obasanjo has officially endorsed former vice president atiku abubakar to run for the presidency of nigeria come 20191 obasanjo said that he was giving his blessings to atiku because he atiku had re-discovered and re-positioned himselfand as such had earned his obasanjos forgiveness1 obasanjo disclosed this while briefing newsmen after a meeting with atiku leaders of the peoples democratic party pdp and others key stakeholders in his country home in abeokuta1 there are still areas nationally and internationally where you have to mend fences and make amends. you will know how to handle what is already out and what may yet be put out by the opposition. but i am convinced that if you continue with the attitude that brought you here with these distinguished leaders of goodwill with remorse and contrite heart the rest of the coast within and outside the country can be cleared. and if there is anything i can do and you want me to do in that respect i will1 i am sure with the right attitude for change where necessary and by putting lessons learned by you to work you will get the understanding cooperation support and mandate all at the national level1 with nigerians voting for you it will mean that you secure their forgiveness and regain their confidence. it will be with the hope or assurance of a paul on the road to damascus conversion. after all change and conversion are of man. i believe that with a contrite heart change is possible in everybodys life and situation1 for me relatively and of all the aspirants in the pdp you have the widest and greatest exposure experience outreach and possibly the best machinery and preparation for seeing the tough and likely dirty campaign ahead through. from what i personally know of you you have capacity to perform better than the incumbent. you surely understand the economy better you have business experience which can make your administration business-friendly and boost the economy and provide jobs1 you have better outreach nationally and internationally and that can translate to better management of foreign affairs. you are more accessible and less inflexible and more open to all parts of the country in many ways. as pastor bakare one-time running mate of the incumbent president said you are a wazobia man. and that should help you in confronting the confrontable and shunning nepotism1 as you know along the road to where you are today many leaders and ordinary people cooperated and overtly and covertly worked hard. on your behalf i thank them all. may their coast continue to be expanded. and when you become nigerian president which insha-allah you will be remember what we did together in government we ran an administration by nigerians for all nigerians where merit and performance count more than blood relationship friendship or kith and kin. although some time and ground hav1 please uphold truth integrity principles morality and fight corruption crimes and insurgency. the fundamental law of the land our constitution must be scrupulously defended. i make one demand and one demand on you today i need you to say before god and man that you will always remain irrevocably committed to upholding all the provisions of the constitution of the federal republic of nigeria and the whole country will remain your single indivisible constituency1 constitutionalism popular participation and inclusiveness are pre-conditions for reversing the deficits of the past three and half years. they will ensure abiding faith in our indivisibility oneness and faith in the survival of all against none1 the fundamentals for our development economic growth and progress are hard and soft infrastructure. remember to always give adequate places in your administration to our youth and women1 all the authorities involved with the preparation all processes and conduct of the election must ensure that the election is free fair and credible1 once again congratulations and i wish you well. my distinguished brothers and leaders of goodwill thank you for making this happen. i will now count on you to encourage all hands to be on the deck to take nigeria to the level god has created it to be autopilot level1 thats why today you are the presidential candidate of the party. in addition to appreciating all that the party has done for you may i advise you to work together with all those who contested for the partys flag with you as a team for your campaign1