Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has asserted that all
political actors and leaders are prone to scandals.
He made the assertion yesterday while responding to a question by a participant
at the Murtala Mohammed Foundation Summit in Lagos that scandals in politics
was widespread.
The former
Nigerian leader was among a panel of discussants with former Malawian
President, Dr. Joyce Banda and Aisha Mohammed-Oyebode, Chief Executive Officer
of the Foundation and widow of the late Military Head of State, Gen. Murtala
Mohammed.
“Scandal is
not just for women in politics; all leaders are scandalized”, he said. “If you
don’t want to be scandalized, don’t go into politics”.
Mr.
Obasanjo noted that anyone who has been following the news for political events
in the United States of America, which prides itself as the world’s most
advanced democracy, would have noticed the mudslinging between the camps of the
Republican and Democratic presidential candidates – Donald Trump and Hillary
Clinton respectively – all in a bid to outdo each other in the race for the
White House.
But the former Nigerian leader, who himself, is not new to
scandals in and out of public office, had this word of encouragement: “What I
believe is important is your conscience. Ensure that whatever you do is what
you can defend with your conscience”.
Earlier in
her address titled “Women in Solidarity: a new paradigm for inclusion”, Banda
called for partnership among African women even as she reiterated the need for
them to have the support of their male counterparts to lead the continent.
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