Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has described the late former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration as the worst civilian government in Nigeria’s history, while warning that President Bola Tinubu’s regime is fast trailing in the same direction.
Buhari, who died in London on July 13, 2025, and was buried at his Daura, Katsina residence on July 15, ruled Nigeria as military dictator from 1983 to 1985 before returning as civilian president from 2015 to 2023.
Like the late leader, Obasanjo, who first governed Nigeria as military head of state between 1976 and 1979, also presided as civilian president from 1999 to 2007 following the country’s return to democracy.
As a military ruler, Obasanjo oversaw the handover of power to the late President Shehu Shagari, whose government Buhari later toppled in the December 1983 coup.
In his new book, Nigeria: Past and Future, Obasanjo recalled how Buhari had described Shagari’s government as corrupt, rudderless and preoccupied with self-enrichment.
According to Obasanjo, Buhari accused the Second Republic lawmakers of being ‘‘preoccupied with determining their salary scales, fringe benefits and unnecessary foreign travels, etc, which took no account of the state of the economy and the welfare of the people they represented.’’
Buhari also declared at the time: *“As a result of our inability to cultivate financial discipline and prudent management of the economy, we have come to depend largely on internal and external borrowing to execute government projects with attendant domestic pressure and soaring external resources.
“Nigeria was already condemned perpetually with the twin problem of heavy budget deficits and weak balance of payments position without the prospect of building a virile and viable economy.
“The last general election was anything but free and fair…there is ample evidence that rigging and thuggery were relative to the resources available to the political parties.”*
But Obasanjo argued that Buhari, when he eventually returned as a democratically elected president, failed to address the very problems he once identified.
He wrote: “Good points and good words which Buhari failed to follow when he became the President years later. 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 regime so far in Nigeria’s history. Maybe these ideas and thoughts were not his; he just read them as was written for him.”
The former president also questioned whether Buhari’s 1983 coup speech was truly his: “Maybe those words were not his own, he just read them. Otherwise, how do you explain the gulf between what he said then and how he governed later?”
Garba Shehu: Obasanjo Always Hated Buhari
Reacting, Buhari’s former spokesman, Garba Shehu, claimed Obasanjo never liked Buhari.
According to Shehu, who referred to his book, According to the President: Lessons from a Presidential Spokesman’s Experience, the rift between both men worsened when Buhari allegedly rejected Obasanjo’s demand to award the Mambilla Power Project to a contractor of his choice.
Shehu said: “There are many around Buhari who hold that the spectacular falling out between him and his superior in the military whom he cherished and much respected, President Olusegun Obasanjo, was on account of the demand, reportedly put to him by Obasanjo, that the contract for the Mambilla Power Project be given to a contractor he preferred. On this, Buhari politely told the former president to allow him to handle it his own way, following the due process that was in place.”
Tinubu’s Government ‘Competing’ in Inefficiency – Obasanjo
Obasanjo, who is no stranger to controversy, also fired a shot at President Bola Tinubu, saying his administration seems to be “competing with Buhari’s in inefficiency.”
He said: “Only Bola Tinubu’s administration seems to be competing with Buhari’s (in the area of inefficiency) for now.”
Efforts to obtain the Presidency’s response to Obasanjo’s comments were unsuccessful as calls to the Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, did not go through, while the Minister of Information, Mohammed Idris, did not respond to messages.
‘I’m in a Hurry to See Nigeria Rise’ – Obasanjo
Meanwhile, Obasanjo reflected on his lifelong commitment to Nigeria’s progress, saying he remained impatient to see the country rise, even as he admitted he was nearing “the departure lounge.”
He said: *“All my writings have been aimed at making Nigeria better because I strongly believe that Nigeria can be made better and I also believe in documentation.
“Why I published My Command and Nzeogwu, I did so to help readers see some of the events of the war through my eyes and the personality of one of the key actors in the events that led to the war.
“In my books such as Not My Will or the three-volume autobiography, My Watch, I have tried to speak about major policy decisions that I undertook and, in some instances, why I did the things I did.
“I have written about my difficult moments in life, my experience in prison, my views about God’s will in my life, and I have written letters to leaders to help them learn lessons and to draw attention to crises.
“I have had the great honour of serving this country as a military Head of State and a 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.”*
Obasanjo admitted that while he has been accused of hypocrisy, his conscience remains clear.
He said: *“Some have accused me of being equally guilty of the things I have written about. I rely on my conscience and my records and have no need to defend myself.
“Yes, I am both angry and sad because I have seen the best and the worst of our country. We were young, maybe naïve, but we were patriotic and sincerely so. We sought to feed our people, provide infrastructure, prioritise education and bring Nigeria to modernity.”
