By Matthew Don
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has said that it is not true when people say that his former deputy, Vice President Atiku Abubakar did not preside over the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meting in their days.
Obasanjo said Atiku did several times because the constitution is clear on that and that he did not need to announce that he was acting since it is a constitutional matter already.
Speaking at the Island Club Quarterly Business Lecture on Wednesday, Obasanjo also said no Nigerian president has devolved powers to his deputy the way he did to Atiku between 1999 -2007.
Obasanjo said he was surprised that people think he did not trust Atiku to preside over the FEC meeting.
Obasanjo said: “That is not true because he had occasion to preside a few times that I was out of the country on duty. On those occasions, he was in charge of the FEC meetings and no Nigerian chief executive has devolved to his deputy as much as I did to Atiku.
“I did not need to designate him acting president because the constitution is clear; once the president is not available, the vice president automatically acts with full powers, and he consults when and if he considers it necessary.
“But since I was not absent from home for 104 days at a time, people may not know that Atiku actually stood in for me whenever I was out (of the country).
“You have a man who has what it takes in experience, exposure, lessons that he has learnt and he has learnt his lessons. I tried to teach him a few of them. You have a man who has what it takes at this time for us to have a change and we need a change for the better.”