Former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo has dismissed persistent claims that he attempted to secure a third term in office, insisting that if he had made such a move, he would have achieved it.

Speaking on Wednesday during the Democracy Dialogue organized by the Goodluck Jonathan Foundation in Accra, Ghana, Obasanjo said there is no evidence to prove he ever lobbied for an extension of his tenure.

“I’m not a fool. If I wanted a third term, I know how to go about it. And there is no Nigerian dead or alive that would say I called him and told him I wanted a third term,” the former president stated.

Debt Relief Was a Bigger Challenge

Obasanjo argued that his administration’s successful negotiation of Nigeria’s debt relief was a much tougher political achievement than pushing for a third term could ever have been.

“I keep telling them that, look, if I wanted to get debt relief, which is more difficult than getting a third term and I got it, if I wanted a third term, I would have got it too,” he explained.

Warning to Leaders Who Refuse to Leave Power

The former president also used the platform to caution leaders who cling to power, describing it as a false sense of indispensability.

“I know that the best is done when you are young, ideal and vibrant and dynamic. When you are ‘kuje kuje’ you don’t have the best. But some people believe that unless they are there, nobody else,” he said.

Obasanjo added that refusing to allow fresh leadership was “a sin against God,” stressing that leadership is not tied to one individual, as others could perform better or worse if given the opportunity.

“They will even tell you that they haven’t got anybody else. I believe that that is a sin against God, because if God takes you away, which God can do anytime, then somebody else will come, and that somebody else may do better or may do worse,” he stated.