Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has revealed he knew the late President Musa Yar’Adua was ill before he supported him to emerge the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2007.

He however said he got medical advice that Yar’Adua, who had a kidney transplant, was fit to act as President.

Yar’Adua, who later won the 2007 presidential election, died in office in May 2010.

Obasanjo, who spoke on Sunday in a virtual interview with academic and historian, Toyin Falola, denied allegation he deliberately put up weak candidates for selfish interests.

He said: “Let me tell you the story of Umaru Yar’adua. I knew he was ill and before I put him forward, I asked for his medical report which he sent to me and I sent it to one of the best doctors of our time and a good friend of mine who died only last year –Professor Akinkugbe.

“I said look at it because it is confidential and he said to me that from this report, this man has had a kidney transplant and it is successful, he is no longer under dialysis.

“And if you have a kidney transplant and it is successful, it is as good as if you didn’t have a kidney transplant at all. I accepted that and Umaru Yar’adua contested within the party and he contested within the country and came up.

“In the process of the campaign, I remember that he had to go for a medical checkup abroad and he was not around for a campaign here in Abeokuta.

“I called him because the rumour was that he had died. I called him on my telephone and put it on speaker. I said, ‘Umaru, are you dead or alive?’ and he said, ‘I am not dead, I am alive’.

“Within a couple of days, he came back and reported that he was checked up and he was well. That was the position of Umaru Yar’adua and if anybody in his right sense will think that what I have done in that position was not right, I leave him in the hands of God.”

Coronabirus:
I disagree with the verdict of OBJ. Umaru has multiple organs problems, I remember after his election as Katsina state governor in 1999 his alleged medical report leaked showed that Umaru couldn't survive beyond his first tenure (it's reported in weekly trust around 2001). I remember his statement when he's seriously sick journalists asked him abt his health he told them that "I may die today, I may die tomorrow and I may even live to be 90".
OBJ is fully aware of his ailing health condition.
This guy just gave him the ticket for selfish reasons. First, because of his relationship with his late elder brother SHEHU Musa Yaradua. Secondly, he wanted someone so soft & weak who may not perform well for him to always be seen as a hero after messy years of military regimes.
I won't rule out the possibility of sinister motive behind imposing ailing Yaradua on Nigerians despite the availability of better candidates at that time because OBJ is one of the evil leaders Nigeria had.

Coronabirus:
I disagree with the verdict of OBJ. Umaru has multiple organs problems, I remember after his election as Katsina state governor in 1999 his alleged medical report leaked showed that Umaru couldn't survive beyond his first tenure (it's reported in weekly trust around 2001). I remember his statement when he's seriously sick journalists asked him abt his health he told them that "I may die today, I may die tomorrow and I may even live to be 90".
OBJ is fully aware of his ailing health condition.
This guy just gave him the ticket for selfish reasons. First, because of his relationship with his late elder brother SHEHU Musa Yaradua. Secondly, he wanted someone so soft & weak who may not perform well for him to always be seen as a hero after messy years of military regimes.
I won't rule out the possibility of sinister motive behind imposing ailing Yaradua on Nigerians despite the availability of better candidates at that time because OBJ is one of the evil leaders Nigeria had.