Abubakar Atiku, former Vice President of Nigeria, says he prevented Olusegun Obasanjo from perpetuating himself in office like Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe.

Atiku said this in a letter he wrote to Francis Agoda, a Nigerian Comedian popularly known as ‘I go die’.

The comedian had written an open letter to Atiku last week after the latter’s return to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

In the letter, he charged Atiku to list his achievements while in office as Vice President between 1999 and 2007.

“Don’t use sentimental empathy on the youths to express your political ambitions. Sir, you are one of those that have immensely benefited from Nigeria since your birth in 1946,” he had said.

“Remarkably, between 1999 and 2007 that you were the Vice President of Nigeria, it is recorded that tertiary institutions witnessed several strikes that wasted 17 months, three weeks and three days. Within this period, what did you do?

“If social support were given to youth then, their children will be between 18 and 20 years during the 2019 elections, obviously they would have willingly voted for you or anyone that you endorse in 2019.”

In reply, Atiku listed among his achievements, the thwarting of Obasanjo’s infamous third agenda that would have seen him remain in office beyond the constitutional eight years.

“I regret that we had that disagreement with my boss. Some say I was disloyal, but I looked at the events in Zimbabwe recently, and it gives me confidence that I did the right thing fighting the attempts to elongate the presidential tenure beyond eight years,” Atiku wrote.

“If I did not win that fight, do you think we would be having a discussion on young people getting into leadership today?”

Atiku also credited himself with bringing about the telecommunications revolution that afforded many Nigerian youth the opportunity to prosper.

He said: “I oversaw the telecoms revolution, which is why young people like you, I Go Die, now have a flourishing career.

“Under our tenure, we witnessed a large repatriation of Nigerians back to Nigeria, driven by the hope of the recovering economy.

“It is sad that many of those young people are heading back abroad now — this is to show you that leadership matters.

“As VP, I assembled what is arguably the best Economic Team ever in Nigeria. It was made up of young, world-class professionals, who came home to work.

“Some of those professionals are now political leaders, governors and world leaders in their own right.

“If you ask what our first task was, coming into government in 1999, it was to bring stability to the economy after decades of military rule.

“For example, between 1999 and 2003, oil prices then were hovering between $16 and $28 yet we managed to pay up salary arrears from decades back, clear up our national debts and built up foreign reserves. Our GDP grew at the fastest rate we’ve seen since the return to democracy.”