Buhari Too Weak To Sign Free Trade Agreement, Says Obasanjo

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo says President Muhammadu Buhari’s hands are too weak to sign the African Free Trade Agreement.

The former President made the statement on Saturday while speaking at the Babacar Ndiaye lecture series in Bali, Indonesia, The Cable reports.

Obasanjo spoke on the theme, ‘Global Power Disequilibrium, Trade Wars and Implications for Africa’ during the international lecture series instituted by Afrexim Bank to honour Dr. Babacar Ndiaye, a former President of the African Development Bank, who died on July 13, 2017.


The event held from the sidelines of the 2018 Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group.

Obasanjo said he hoped that Nigeria will soon have a President who will sign the agreement.

He said, “Africa cannot overcome fears of trade wars till it achieves 50 per cent intra-Africa trade.

“The AfCTA is a good idea and for Nigeria, hopefully, we will have a president that will be able to sign it because the one that is there now, his hands are too weak to sign.”