Obasanjo’s Exit Unsettles PDP

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Alo Abiola, Chibuzo Ukaibe, Gbenga Adeboye, George Agba, George Okojie, MUYIWA OYINLOLA

— Feb 17, 2015 | 1 Comment Leaders of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are currently unsettled following the exit of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, its first president and former chairman of its Board of Trustees (BoT).
Obasanjo yesterday dumped the PDP saying he “belongs to a party which says Nigeria must not be destroyed.”
The former leader, who also dismissed the idea of interim government, declared his departure from the ruling party at his Hilltop Mansion, Abeokuta, while hosting members of the PDP from his Ward 11 in Abeokuta north local government.
A little drama followed his disengagement from PDP as he gave his membership card to the leader of the delegation, Sunmonu Oladunjoye, who tore it into shreds.
Obasanjo in his statement maintained that Nigeria belongs to all, stressing that he would continue to protect the interest of the nation.
“This Nigeria belongs to all of us and it must not be destroyed. This is my PDP membership card. Where I am standing is that Nigeria belongs to everybody, including babies.
“We must not allow anybody to destroy it, wherever they come from, whatever they have. If they destroy it, it becomes our burden, our children’s (burden) and (that of) the incoming generation. I belong to the group that believes that Nigeria must not be destroyed.”
The former president has been having a running battle with the PDP for quite some time, a development that led to a series of failed peace initiatives.
In December last year, five PDP governors including Godswill Akpabio (Akwa Ibom), Liyel Imoke (Cross Rivers), Isa Yuguda (Bauchi), Babangida Aliyu (Niger) and Sule Lamido (Jigawa), went to appeal to him to rescind his stand against the party. The meeting was deadlocked.
He also failed to show up at President Jonathan’s campaign in Abeokuta, Ogun State, and when the president paid him a courtesy visit after the rally, Obasanjo did not hide his feeling that he was not in support of Jonathan’s ambition.
The former president has also been making so many statements against Jonathan’s administration lately. Last weekend, he accused the president of trying to manipulate the elections in order to hang on to power by all means.

Jonathan, party leaders hold emergency meeting
Immediately after the news of Obasanjo’s exit from the PDP got to the presidency, the leadership of the party went into a crucial meeting at the presidential villa in Abuja.
Those at the meeting included President Goodluck Jonathan; Vice President Namadi Sambo; national chairman of the party, Adamu Muazu; BoT chairman, Chief Tony Anenih; Senate President David Mark; Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu; PDP deputy national chairman, Uche Secondus; national security adviser (NSA), Col Sambo Dasuki (rtd) and political adviser to the president, Ahmed Rufai Alkali.

His exit sad, unfortunate – Metuh
The PDP yesterday described the manner of the former president’s exit from the party as unfortunate.
The party said that it had carefully examined the circumstances and the reasons adduced for Obasanjo’s “unfortunate decision”‎, adding however that it remained focused on the forthcoming elections.
A statement by the national publicity secretary, Olisa Metuh, read in part: “While we concede to the inalienable rights of every citizen to hold opinion and to decide who to associate with, we are, however, deeply saddened that Chief Obasanjo, a revered leader of our party, our first presidential flag bearer whom the PDP offered the platform to rule our nation for eight years, could decide to abandon this party at this critical point in time.
“This is especially as Chief Obasanjo, who was also the chairman of the highest advisory organ of the PDP, the Board of Trustees (BoT), discountenanced all pleas by elders and leaders of our great party with regard to his reservations on certain issues within our fold.
The party wondered at the level of provocation that could have led a former president to go to the extent of tearing the membership card of the party.
“Indeed, the PDP is hugely at loss as to how the decision and action of the former president, who had enjoyed the benefits of being elected to the highest position of leadership, will assist in deepening our democracy and stabilizing the polity.
“It is our considered opinion that no matter the provocation, a statesmanlike disposition from a person of Chief Obasanjo’s status could have encouraged our citizens and progress stability in the system.
“We believe, however, that what this country needs now is patriotic actions that engender national unity, tolerance and peaceful coexistence of our people irrespective of political, ethnic and religious persuasions. The overall interest of our nation and wellbeing of our citizens must remain paramount and above all personal and group interests.”
Although details of the meetings were not known at the time of filing this report, LEADERSHIP gathered that they were not unconnected with issues bordering on the 2015 general polls and Obasanjo’s decision to quit the party.

Tearing of PDP membership card absurd – Fani- Kayode
In the same vein, the PDP Presidential Campaign Organisation (PDPPCO) yesterday described the tearing of the party’s membership card by Obasanjo as spitting on the party’s face.
The campaign team of the party, which described Obasanjo’s action as unbecoming of him, lamented that his latest action showed he had parted with the party for good.
In a statement issued by director of Media and Publicity, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, the PDPPCO said: “Watching our party membership card being torn up whilst President Obasanjo was standing there and smiling was painful and tragic.
“This is a party which he helped to build and on whose platform he was elected president for eight good years. The truth is that President Obasanjo is far better and far bigger than that. Such behavior is provocative and unacceptable.”
The campaign team accepted that the former party chief was free to leave the party, but that he did not have to disgrace the party in the manner he did it.
“This knee-jerk reaction is most unlike President Obasanjo and it is very insulting. It is clear that he has burnt all the bridges and that he has left us forever,” it concluded.

Anenih, other party leaders react
Chairman, PDP BoT, Chief Tony Anenih, has said that the party will not suffer any losses by Obasanjo’s decision to publicly dump the party.
Anenih, who stated this after meeting with President Goodluck Jonathan alongside other party leaders at the presidential villa yesterday, initially declined to address State House correspondents.
But when pressed to speak, he said while the former president had the right to leave or join any party as a Nigerian, his exit was not a loss to the PDP.
Secretary of the party’s BoT, Senator Wali Jibrin described Obasanjo’s tearing of his PDP membership card in public as unbefitting of a former president.
Speaking to journalists after the meeting, Jibrin said there were laid down procedures to follow if any member wanted to withdraw his membership
of the PDP.
According to him, such procedures included going to submit the membership card at the ward level, and possibly offering some explanations to the leaders on why the person was no longer interested in remaining a member of the party.
On his part, Ekiti State governor, Mr Ayodele Fayose, described Obasanjo departure from the PDP as a good omen to the party.
Fayose said the development was a vindication of his earlier stand that the former president should have been shown a red card by the PDP a long time ago.
In a statement by his chief press secretary, Mr Idowu Adelusi, Fayose said the former president had been the major problem to the party and that tearing his membership card was to save him from imminent expulsion.
South West Presidential Contact Committee Group of the PDP comprising of Chief Olabode George, Senator Seye Ogunlewe, Major- General Tajudeen Olanrewaju, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, Elder Joju Fadairo, Otunba Adebisi Omoyeni, among others, yesterday accused Obasanjo of plotting to distabilize the country.
They noted in a communiqué issued on Monday that, “The intervention of former President Olusegun Obasanjo in the current national challenges is distorted, unstatesmanly, too personalized and provocative.
“Former President Obasanjo cannot and must not assume the role of the Nigerian overlord with infallible wisdom. Former President Obasanjo has descended into the bitter fray of a common partisan actor without the distinction and dignity of a rallying unifying leader.
APC keeps mum
Efforts to get the reaction of the spokesman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Alhaji Lai Mohammed, over the development proved abortive as he neither picked his calls nor responded to SMS sent to him as at press time.