Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has berated President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, claiming that his administration is currently rivaling the late President Muhammadu Buhari in terms of incompetence.

The remarks appear in Obasanjo’s new book, Nigeria: Past and Future, one of two publications he launched in March to mark his 88th birthday. The second book is titled Lest We Forget: Slavery, Slave Trade, Emancipation and Reparation.

In the book’s opening chapter, From the Beginning Till Now: The Missing Key, Obasanjo reviewed Nigeria’s leaders since independence.

He described Buhari’s administration as the “worst civil administration regime” in the nation’s history.

“Only Bola Tinubu’s administration seems to be competing with Buhari’s for now,” Obasanjo wrote.

Obasanjo recalled how Buhari, during his earlier political career, criticized the government of Shehu Shagari as corrupt, rudderless, and self-serving, but later returned as a democratically elected president without addressing the problems he had previously identified.

“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?” Obasanjo questioned.

Reflecting on his lifelong commitment to Nigeria’s progress, the former president said his writings are intended to inspire national development.

“I have had the honour of serving this country as a military Head of State and later as President. So, it might be said that I have sat on both sides of the fence. Now, I am getting close to my departure lounge, maybe without picking my boarding pass yet,” he stated.

Obasanjo also addressed criticisms labeling him hypocritical, insisting that his conscience remains clear.