OLUSEGUN OBASANJO, NIGERIAN PRESIDENT: No, I don`t agree with that because, even on apartheid, the Commonwealth did not all agree that the method or the way that it was to go until apartheid was dismantled. When Nigeria was suspended from the Commonwealth for the misbehaviour of Abacha, there were members of the Commonwealth who thought it should not be done and there were those who were in the forefront, and that has always been the case with the Commonwealth. There will be an issue. There will be those who are in the forefront and then, at the end of the day, they will arrive at a consensus and then, the consensus carries the day but, all along, you will find people who are dragging their feet.

JANA WENDT: Well, let me put to you this criticism. Many international observers are saying the Commonwealth, like Nero, is fiddling while Zimbabwe is burning. The elections are imminent and they`re crying out for some response from the Commonwealth. Can people afford to drag their feet, as you put it, right now?

OLUSEGUN OBASANJO: Well, when you have to deal with 54 countries and 54 governments, now, you cannot expect uniformity of action. Now, you can only expect consensus, which was what we have got. Yes, the election is on in about six days time. We should not be pre-judgmental. We should wait for the election. Of course, we know that the election itself is part of a process. Now, the process starts from registration of voters and all that, and all that. But, if we now say before the election that we suspend Zimbabwe from the Commonwealth, people will be wondering what sort of a decision is the Commonwealth... you are talking of an election. The election has not even taken place and you are suspending a member of your association on the basis - who is to conduct the election six months before they conducted the election. No, that would sound ridiculous. This is the position - we have a group of observers in Zimbabwe, they are men and women of honour, they will report to the Commonwealth Secretary-General and, when they report, we have established a mechanism that can be triggered off to do whatever may need to be done in the case of Zimbabwe.

JANA WENDT: Mr President, is the writing not on the wall? Those observers that you describe as "honourable men and women" are already reporting that they`re being attacked, the number of polling booths is being reduced, apparently the army is taking control of the election. Isn`t this crying out...

OLUSEGUN OBASANJO: That is not the report of the observers. That is the report of journalists like you.

JANA WENDT: But are the observers not being attacked?

OLUSEGUN OBASANJO: No.

JANA WENDT: Have they not said they`re being attacked?

OLUSEGUN OBASANJO: Some observers have been and we had a report from the ground and the observers told us that this was inadvertently done, that it was not carried out, it was not instigated by government - that`s what we are told.

JANA WENDT: And that`s what you believe?

OLUSEGUN OBASANJO: Well, I will believe whatever the observers tell me, of course, unless I have no confidence in the observers. If I cannot believe them, then I wonder who else I would believe.

JANA WENDT: Well, Mr President, let me ask you this. You`ve been so involved in this process. If there`s one person that you have to believe, I suppose, it`s Robert Mugabe. Do you believe the undertakings that he`s made to you and to others about this being a free and fair election?

OLUSEGUN OBASANJO: Well, he, he has not made...let me tell you what he has made and which I believe. I went to him and I said, "Look, you should allow observers." And he said, "Yes, I will allow observers," and he allowed observers, although he said certain countries, he will not allow observers from certain countries. That is his prerogative. It`s a sovereign country. "Now, you should allow foreign media." He said, "I will allow foreign media but I will not allow a particular foreign media." Again, that is his prerogative. That is a sovereign country.

JANA WENDT: You didn`t argue against that idea?

OLUSEGUN OBASANJO: No. Why should I? If I am in that position, I probably won`t do it that way, but he has the right to decide who comes to his country and who does not come. I have a right to decide who comes to my country and who does not come.

JANA WENDT: So that is the framework that Mr Mugabe set for his election. Do you believe that this election will be free and fair?

OLUSEGUN OBASANJO: I believe that I have no cause at this stage to declare pre-judgmentally that this election will not be fair and free.

JANA WENDT: You...in your dealings with him...has he given you the impression of being a man who is prepared to exit after this election or of a man who thinks he may win this election still?

OLUSEGUN OBASANJO: He has given me the impression that he is a man who is ready for whatever the election brings about.

JANA WENDT: And does he think that that may be an election loss for him?

OLUSEGUN OBASANJO: Well, as I said to you, it`s a man who has given me the impression that he`s ready for what the election may bring about. Now, anybody who contests an election knows that, like in a court of law, you can never be absolutely sure. You can never, unless, of course, you`re awoken to the answer, to say, "Well, I am cocksure."

JANA WENDT: Mr President, did you try and persuade Mr Mugabe and ZANU-PF, that they should find another candidate for this presidential election?

OLUSEGUN OBASANJO: That`s not my job. It`s not my job to tell any country who is fit and proper to run the affairs of their country. Because, if anybody tells Nigerians, Nigerians would be absolutely livid, no matter who, to tell them who should run the affairs of their country for them - no.

JANA WENDT: Nonetheless, from reports that we read, you and South Africa are very involved in this process of dealing with Mr Mugabe, talking to Mr Mugabe and talking to Mr Tsvangirai, his political opponent. There is a notion of African security in the outcome of this election, isn`t there?

OLUSEGUN OBASANJO: It depends on what you mean by "African security". But, yes, I went to Zimbabwe and I met President Mugabe. And I believe I should be even-handed. I met President Mugabe, I met the other side.

JANA WENDT: And did Mr Tsvangirai give you any assurances about how he may deal with Mr Mugabe were the MDC to win the election?

OLUSEGUN OBASANJO: I believe that he will realise and I believe he realises that, in a way, he would be a pioneer, if he wins the election. But the pioneer meaning he will be the first to deal with a president, a former president of Zimbabwe.

JANA WENDT: And can I ask you just very quickly about what impression Mr Tsvangirai made on you as a possible leader of Zimbabwe?

OLUSEGUN OBASANJO: Well, he had come to Nigeria earlier to see me and I see him as a bright young man.

JANA WENDT: And you, of course, are aware that Mr Tsvangirai is now facing treason charges. What do you make of those allegations against him?

OLUSEGUN OBASANJO: I have...I did not see the, oh, what do you call it, the...the videotape, but I have asked people who saw it and the view varies from possible "yes, it is true," to possible - through to "no, it`s impossible."

JANA WENDT: So you, you have not formed an opinion about the value of this evidence?

OLUSEGUN OBASANJO: No, I have not.

JANA WENDT: President Obasanjo, thank you very much for your time.