Nigerian former President, and an elder statesman Olusegun Obasanjo, on Thursday, said his mother carried his pregnancy for 12 months before his birth, attributing the delay to the handiwork of witches and wizards.

Obasanjo, who is the only Nigerian to have ruled the country as a military dictator and a democratically elected president, claimed the witches and wizards gave his mother a tough time before God’s intervention.

This was revealed in a statement by his media assistant, Kehinde Akinyemi,issued in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.

The statement noted that the former president made the assertion during a drama presentation titled “Aremu Omo Asabi” held to mark the 66th anniversary of his late mother, Bernice Obasanjo’s passing.

The drama was held on Wednesday at the main auditorium of the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, Abeokuta, Ogun State.

The ex-president lamented that it was unfortunate that his mother never lived to see how marvelously God had helped him become great in life and enjoy the fruits of her hard labor.

He said that although his mother gave birth to nine children, only two of them, himself and his sister, survived.

“I was told I was in my mother’s womb for 12 months, and since I was born, I have not been left for once. She had nine children, but two of us survived, myself and my sister,” he said.

“I was the only one who went to school because my father’s belief was that no matter how educated a female child is, she would end up in the kitchen.”

The former president promised to support the troupe’s quest to present the longest open drama to clinch a Guinness Book of Records entry.