Former President Olusegun Obasanjo in far away Kenya gave a nod to the candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC) General Muhammadu Buhari in the forthcoming elections.

Obasanjo, according to Financial Times, expressed confidence in Buhari whom he described as smart and experienced.

The former president, who was in the country to launch his 1,500-page controversial autobiography, added that Buhari of today is different from Buhari of 1984.

“The circumstances Buhari will be working under if he wins the election are different from the one he worked under before, where he was both the executive and the legislature — he knows that,” said Obasanjo, adding that “he’s smart enough. He’s educated enough. He’s experienced enough. Why shouldn’t I support him?”

He also believed Buhari would be well equipped to combat corruption and restore fighting spirit to an army that had struggled in the face of the onslaught by Boko Haram.

“It’s a question of leadership - political and military,” Obasanjo said of the crisis facing the army.

“I think you need to ask Mr Jonathan how he has let the army go to this extent... Many things went wrong: recruitment went wrong; training went wrong; morale went down; motivation not there; corruption was deeply ingrained; welfare was bad,” he added.

The former leader also expressed dismay at the extent to which billions of dollars in oil revenues had “all disappeared” since he left office, when reserves had reached $45 billion and the government had $20 billion more in rainy day savings.

•Adapted from a Nigerian Tibune report. Photo shows Obasanjo.

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