Murtala Mohammed's dreams would have bequeathed moral rectitude and discipline that would have produced all round development - but for the ineptitude of his successor as Head of State, Olusegun Obasanjo.

This is the opinion of former Head of State, Muhammadu Buhari, who told Sunday Independent during the week that it was Obasanjo who truncated the visionary leadership of Mohammed, and reintroduced corruption that has returned Nigeria to economic retardation.

Buhari spoke in an exclusive interview at his Kaduna home, where he regretted that Obasanjo not only failed to continue Mohammed's legacies - having become Head of State after Mohammed was assassinated in 1976 - he bungled the second chance given to him as a civilian President, and practically destroyed the country.

Buhari also explained that he was misquoted in reports saying that he had absolved former Head of State, Sani Abacha, of corruption.

He blamed the problems of the country on a cabal among the elite who refuse to allow genuine leaders to emerge.

His words: "They make sure they deny opportunity to those who can do it. See how they got rid of Murtala. The man could have organised a credible civilian government. Look at how Obasanjo led the military (after him). He and whatever principles he used to have and the experiences he acquired as a military leader were pulled down. And he is the only living Nigerian that God allowed to rule this country for more than 11 years. But see how he ended."

Buhari, whose regime was known for its iron grip in its effort to stamp out corruption, said he is particularly peeved by the amount of stealing Obasanjo allowed to go on around him, citing the case of former Inspector General of Police, Tarfa Balogun.

"How could Obasanjo allow his number one police officer to accumulate N17 billion under his nose?"

Denying that he absolved Abacha of corruption, he said the point he made at the venue in Kano where the statement was credited to him was to highlight some of the areas in which Abacha impacted positively on the society.

Buhari listed these to include security, restoration of confidence in governance by involving all parts of the country, including the South West that had stopped attending the Council of States meeting because it felt Ernest Shonekan's government that replace Abacha's was illegal.

He also recalled that Abacha ensured that the Naira was stable, and that he restored confidence in the financial institutions by preventing banks from paying depositors 40 per cent upfront while failing to redeem the remaining 60 per cent.

"I never absolved anybody, yet the statement that you people (the press)want to use to cut me to size. If because I spoke in the midst of other former Heads of State (Ibrahim Babangida and Abdulsalami Abubakar)and you want to lump us together, then so be it."