Former President Olusegun Obasanjo said on Friday he turned down a proposal to make the former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate in the 2007 election.
El-Rufai served as the Director-General of the Bureau of Public Enterprise (BPE) under Obasanjo.
He was later appointed the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in the dying days of that administration.
The ex-President, who spoke at the second edition of the Ajibosin Platform Annual Symposium in Abeokuta, Ogun State, said he turned down the proposal because of his belief that El-Rufai was not mature enough to lead Nigeria.
He added that a former Minister of Aviation, Osita Chidoka, recommended El-Rufai as his possible successor at the time.
Obasanjo pointed out that he felt at the time, El-Rufai needed more time to grow politically and personally.
(Ripples NG)
