The ex-Bolton Wanderers star came close to securing the coveted individual honour in 1998 after his impressive displays at PSG but he finished in second-place behind Morocco's Mustapha Hadji.
Meanwhile, Okocha got third spot behind Samuel Eto'o and Didier Drogba five years after.
While in 2004, he came second again after claiming the Best Player award and the Golden Boot with four goals at the 2004 Africa Cup of Nations in Tunisia.
“And if I’m to say, I’ll say, I regret not winning the African Footballer of the year,” Okocha said in a chat with MasterCard.
“But of course, if you look back, there’s always a time that you say 'Oh maybe you could’ve done a bit better than you did'.
“I thought I did enough to have won it because it was not a fluke that I won the BBC player of the Year three years in a row and not managed to win that Caf award, but I mean maybe it was not meant to be.
“Well, I think I don’t want to sound greedy, but I’ve had an amazing career, I never thought I would make it that big.”
The Super Eagles star picked Pele as his biggest influence and recalled his experience with the Brazil legend in Tunisia back in 1994.
“The person that influenced me the most is none other than Pele,” he said.
As a child, growing up we were always talking about him and how great he was on the pitch but then, I was fortunate enough to meet him in 1994 during the Africa Cup of Nations final, and I was impressed with the way he conducted himself off the pitch.
“I was blown away with the way he related with everyone.”
Okocha made his Super Eagles debut in 1993 and he played 73 matches, scoring 14 goals before calling time on his international career in 2006.
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