There were indications on Friday that former
President Olusegun Obasanjo might have
shunned a peace move by the Peoples
Democratic Party and President Goodluck
Jonathan.
Sunday PUNCH gathered that as part of
the President’s visit to Ogun State on Friday,
Jonathan and the leadership of the PDP had
planned to meet with the former President.
It was, however, learnt that the former president,
who had got wind of the peace move, travelled
to Gambia on Thursday.
It was not clear whether the ex-President had
plans to attend the Gambia event before
Jonathan’s visit.
Investigations revealed that Obasanjo would
have been part of the closed-door meeting
Jonathan had with some Ogun State traditional
rulers on Friday, but for his absence from the
country.
An aide of the former president, who pleaded
anonymity because Obasanjo did not mandate
him to speak on the issue, explained his
(Obasanjo’s) main grouse with Jonathan.
He said that the major problem the former
president had with Jonathan and the PDP was
the promotion of a chieftain of the party, Mr.
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.
The aide recalled that Obasanjo had in 2014
written a letter to the then PDP Chairman, Dr.
Bamanga Tukur, complaining about Kashamu’s
membership of the party.
In the letter dated 7 January, 2014, Obasanjo
said he would, temporarily, cease to be a
member of the party by withdrawing from its
activities because Kahamu had been extolled 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 rather than address Obasanjo’s
complaint, the PDP had appointed Kashamu the
Chairman of its Mobilisation Committee in the
South-West.
Kashamu has also won the PDP senatorial ticket
for the Ogun-East Senatorial District.
Obasanjo had on Monday dumped the PDP and
directed the party Chairman in Ward 11,
Abeokuta North, Mr. Usman Oladunjoye, to tear
his membership card.
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 staff, who also 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.
He said the former Chairman of BoT was aware
of the official assignment of the President in his
state but chose to travel.
“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, Mr.
Olisa Metuh said the party had not foreclosed
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 being 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 being Baba back to the
PDP.”
Also speaking on the issue, a former
spokesperson for the party, who was also a
former Minister of Environment, Mr. John
Odeyemi, said the party has a mechanism
through which he said it revolves its crises.
“We would resolve the matter in our own way,
because the party has a mechanism through
which it resolves its crises and settles such
matters,” he added.
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