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Former

president, Olusegun Obasanjo, for the second time in 2010, yesterday called journalists to his Abeokuta home to fault rumours that he was dead. The rumour had gripped Abeokuta and its environs most of Friday.

Photo: Looking Good in Kaftan on New Year's Eve

Speaking with journalists at his Hilltop Private residence in Abeokuta, Obasanjo who jumped up to show journalists that he is hale and hearty, said, “obviously if I am dead, you won’t see me in flesh and blood. I think people take delight in speculation and rumouring.”

He said it was the seventh time since he became the nation’s president in 1999 and even after he left office in 2007 that he would be confronted with such reports.

Mr. Obasanjo, who said it is only God that determines the right time a person dies, recalled how a friend of his called him Friday morning, breaking to him the news of his rumoured death.

“He said he was trying to confirm and that he had counted seven times that l have been rumoured dead since the eve of my inauguration in 1999 as a democratically elected President of Nigeria till today,” Mr. Obasanjo said.

The former president said those who indulge in this will not give up “and those who are superstitious believe that when there are rumours and speculation like this means longevity. Whether longevity or not, what I know is that until the Good Lord who has created me decide to say yes, I have reached my take off point to return to him, people may speculate, people may rumour and that will be their own handicap.

“My words to Nigerians are that wishes are not horses. People’s wishes do not make it to happen. But I know that anybody created is bound to die sometimes. When my time comes, it will not be man that will decide. It is in the hands of God,” he added.

On the controversy over whether he slumped at a ceremony in Ondo State, he said:

“I did not slump, but when I was choked in the church because of lack of air conditioner and fan, I went to my car which had an AC and after staying there for about three minutes, I felt okay and I decided to go to my host house because I have not taken my breakfast. There, I was given two pieces of banana which I ate and I returned to the church. I was shocked three days after reading that I slumped. It is part of the gimmick of selling newspapers.”

Mr. Obasanjo said Nigerians should be thankful for the year ending 2010, adding that the new year promises to be a year of high expectations and divine year for sustenance of unity for all Nigerians

“We all Nigerians should be thankful for the year ending, 2010. I wish all Nigerians, young and old, male and female, every good fortune the year 2011 offers and promise to be a year of high expectations for all Nigerians,” he said.

FORMER President Olusegun Obasanjo on Thursday, laughed off the recent selection of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar as the North’s consensus candidate by the Mallam Adamu Ciroma-led Northern PoliticalLeaders Forum (NPLF).

Pressed for his comments on the development by State House correspondents, after the meeting of the National Council of State, he volunteered in Pidgin English, saying “I dey laugh,” suggesting that he might not have taken the emergence of his former second in command very seriously.

He continued sarcastically, “I am full of joy and I wish you (journalists) and Nigerians the fullness of joy. I wish you peace and joy always,” to which reporters echoed “Amen.”

Also reacting, Governor Ibrahim Shema of Katsina State told reporters that the North would soon speak on the selection of Atiku by the Ciroma-led committee...

Below is an excerpt from his brief exchange with reporters.

What’s your view on Atiku?
He is a presidential aspirant.

But, he is standing in for the North.
You have to ask the north

But you are a key member of the North.
Yes, I am, but you have to ask the North, because I am not the only person in the North.

What’s your personal view?
My view, the North will talk.

Meanwhile, President Goodluck Jonathan, on Thursday, took his detractors to task and challenged them on their level of commitment to the country, as the race towards the 2011 presidential election hots up.

In the bid to raise the bar on his campaigns and garner more support ahead of the primaries, President Jonathan, in a comment on his Facebook account, declared that he did not have bank accounts or properties abroad, while all his children live and school in the country.

While challenging those who accused him to say so, Jonathan said “I was loyal to my leader, the late great President Umaru Yar’Adua. I am loyal to Nigeria, I don’t claim to represent the North, the South or a committee - I represent Nigeria. I am loyal to Nigeria’s economy, I don’t have accounts or property abroad, All my children live and school in Nigeria. I am loyal to my wife and friends. Can those who accuse me say the same?”

The president had, in a previous comment, maintained that the only difference that needed to be made in the country was between good and bad, not North and South.

He challenged what he described as virulent attacks on his person by unnamed persons, whom he accused of calling him a disloyal person, saying that “I would only urge you to objectively look at my past and the past of those making these allegations and let your conscience guide you. As I said, the only difference we need to make in Nigeria is between good and bad, not North and South.”

In a related development, Vice-President Namadi Sambo, on Thursday, has said he did not recognise any consensus candidate for the North.

Sambo said this when he spoke with reporters at the presidential wing of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, on arrival in Lagos.

“Who said there is a consensus candidate for the North? Who says so, because we are not aware of any northern consensus candidate. The North has no consensus candidate for this election for PDP,” he said.

The vice-president added that “we have our constitution as a party on how we select our candidate for different positions for election and just two days ago, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) presented the timetable, which I can assure you the PDP will follow, with the constitutional processes for the election of our candidate.”

Sambo further added that the country would see the much-desired transformation and development under the administration.

“I can assure you that Jonathan/Sambo ticket is the ticket for this country to be transformed for future development, to see that Nigeria becomes one of the most developed countries in the world,” he said.

Meanwhile, the former National Security Adviser (NSA), General Aliyu Gusau, in Abuja, on Thursday, said he gave his best to emerge as the consensus candidate of the Northern Political Leaders Forum (NPLF).

The General, who addressed his coordinators from across the states in Abuja, said the campaign organisation gave its best to clinch the position, but that it had resolved to allow God to dictate the pace of its activities.

Gusau said he was accepting the verdict of the NPLF because of his earlier resolve to abide by the decision of the Adamu Ciroma-led committee.

He said that he would still stick to his belief that he was right to have joined the presidential race, as he held the belief that he was the prized candidate Nigerians were waiting for to relive the nation of its leadership inertia.

“As you and I know, however, and for reasons which surpass human understanding, the race is not always won by the swift or by the fittest. As one who really subscribes to the majesty of God’s will, I believe we must all heartily welcome the verdict of the elders and readily cooperate with the winner. This is the path of honour; this is the hallmark of decency,“ he said.