peace move by the Peoples Democratic
Party and President Goodluck
Jonathan have once again been
avoided by former president Olusegun
Obasanjo.
Punch reports that during
Jonathan’s Friday visit to Ogun
state he had also scheduled to meet
the leadership of the PDP.
Obasanjo is said to have got wind
of the visit and travelled on
Thursday to Gambia.
It is uncertain if Obasanjo’s trip to
Gambia was planned or just on the
spur of the moment.
Punch investigations showed that
Obasanjo was scheduled to be part
of the closed door meeting Jonathan
had with some Ogun traditional
rulers on Friday, but was out of the
country.
One aide to Obasanjo said that the
major problem the former
president had with Jonathan and
the PDP was the promotion of a
chieftain of the party, Buruji
Kashamu.
“I can tell you authoritatively that
Baba’s (Obasanjo) problem with the
President and the PDP is the
promotion of Kashamu,” he said.
In 2014, the aide recalled,
Obasanjo had written to the PDP
Chairman, Dr Bamanga Tukur,
complaining about Kashamu’s
membership of the party.
Obasanjo had written that he would
cease to be a member of the party
by withdrawing from its activities
because Kahamu had been installed
as a party leader.
“I will consider withdrawing my
activity with PDP at local, state,
zonal and national levels until the
anomalous and shameful situation
is corrected,” he had said.
The aide said that rather than try
to resolve the issue, the PDP
appointed Kashamu as the
chairman of its Mobilisation
Committee in the southwest.
Kashamu recently got the PDP’s
senatorial ticket for the Ogun-East
Senatorial District.
The Jigawa state governor, Sule
Lamido, and the PDP national
chairman, Adamu Mu’azu, had on
Wednesday met in Abuja as part of
efforts to convince Obasanjo to
return to the ruling party.
Another presidential aide, who
spoke on condition of anonymity,
stated that the former president
because of his annoyance with
President Jonathan deliberately
decided to travel out of Abeokuta to
avoid meeting him on Friday.
“You can see that he deliberately
avoided the President, who he even
almost single-handedly made
President. That’s not good enough,”
he added.
The national publicity secretary of
the party, Olisa Metuh said the
party had not foreclosed on
reconciliation with the former
president.
Metuh told our correspondent that
the party would find a way of
appeasing him.
Metuh said, “The former President
remains a revered member of our
party; he is a statesman who led
our party to two victories
consecutively.
“Because of our respect for him
having been the chairman of our
BoT and a former President, we
won’t allow him leave us like that.
“We agree with Lamido that we
should not allow him leave like that.
We will do everything within our
power to bring him back.
“We still believe that he would work
for our Presidential candidate and
all other candidates of the party
during the forthcoming elections.”
Asked how the party would go
about it, Metuh merely said that
“we would do everything within our
democratic rights to bring Baba
back to the PDP.”
Obasanjo on Monday, February 16,
left the PDP and told the party
chairman in Ward 11, Abeokuta
North, Usman Oladunjoye, to tear
up his membership card.
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