Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has expressed gratitude to former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon, for his support and intervention during the time he (Obasanjo) was imprisoned by General Sani Abacha.

Obasanjo was responding to Gowon’s earlier comments at the inaugural Plateau Interdenominational Unity Christmas Carols and Praise Festival organised by the Plateau State Government on Friday disclosing, for the first time, how he had pleaded with the maximum dictator to spare Obasanjo’s life.

Obasanjo was one of those arrested and imprisoned in 1995 by the Abacha regime on charges of conspiring to topple the government. He was released in 1998 after Abacha’s death and elected president in 1999.

Gowon said he had written a letter to Abacha and sent it through his wife, Victoria, pleading for Obasanjo’s life to be spared, but he had never mentioned it until on Friday.

In his response on Saturday at the same venue, Obasanjo said he had been going around thanking those who had appealed for his release, but he never knew of Gowon’s personal efforts.

“I want to acknowledge my boss, General Yakubu Gowon. Yesterday, he gave us here a revelation, and I have to thank you especially for that. Because when I came out of prison, I had the opportunity, both while I was in prison and after my release, of hearing about friends inside and outside who contributed to appeals and prayed for my release,” Obasanjo said.

“And I went around the world, thanking those who had been pointed out to me as having appealed and prayed for my release from prison. I did not know that you wrote a personal letter for my release until you said it yesterday. I thank you for that,” he said.