Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has denied reports that he is endorsing any candidate from the Southeast for the 2023 presidential election.
Obasanjo, who said he traced the report rumour to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential aspirant Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa.
He said, Ohuabunwa had visited his Abeokuta home to intimate him of his intention to run president.
In a statement issued by his Special Assistant on Media, Kehinde Akinyemi, Obasanjo accused Ohuabunwa of misleading the public.
“He came here and the former President received him as a gentleman and in the spirit of the 85th birthday celebrations only for him to go and put words into his mouth,” Akinyemi said.
He added: “Baba is not that sort of man. And if that is the way he (Ohuabunwa) wants to fulfill his ambition, it is a wrong way.”
Obasanjo had been quoted as saying during the Ohuabuwa visit: “Beyond bringing unity to Nigeria or being the cement that holds the country together, I believe that South-Easterners can model hard work and entrepreneurship.
“That will help in wealth creation and in the fight against poverty, which is ravaging Nigeria.”
