Obasanjo’s exit from PDP: Sagay, others hail action, Babatope, Adams kick

THERE were fears Monday that the exit of former President Olusegun Obasanjo from the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) may lead to further implosion in the party.

A legal icon, Professor Itsay Sagay, and the Southwest Director of Publicity of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Ayo Afolabi, stated this in separate interviews with The Guardian in Lagos while commenting on Obasanjo’s exit from the PDP and partisan politics. 

  However, former Minister of Transport and member of the PDP Board of Trustees (BoT), Chief Ebenezer Babatope, said Obasanjo’s exit  from the party amounted  to nothing but  “good riddance to bad rubbish.”

  Also,  Secretary to the PDP Board of Trustees, Jibril Wall, in an interview in Abuja faulted the manner the former president left the party.

Sagay, while bemoaning what he described as the predatory status the PDP has been reduced to, noted that no ‘genuine statesman or leader with conscience would want to continue to be in the party which has brazenly betrayed the founding objectives and of the founding fathers.’

  Apparently commending the former president’s decision, Sagay said, “PDP today a  diametric opposite to the founding mission of the founding fathers has become a parasite that is sucking the country dry, spreading poverty and worsening the living standards of the ordinary Nigerians who are in the vast majority, taking and celebrating corruption to high heavens. So the Obasanjo that many of us  know could certainly no longer remain in such a group, especially going by his antecedent of fighting corruption and promoting transparency and accountability. So I foresee a ripple effect of the withdrawal of his membership on the party because I hold the belief that there are still some noble and statesmen left in the party that may also not be able to tolerate the decadence the party has been reduced to.”

  Sharing Sagay’s views , Afolabi said, “No reasonable person would want to stay under an (PDP) umbrella  that is torn.

  Babatope said there wouldn’t have been any need to dignify the former president with response “but for the mere fact that he was trying to destroy the platform on which he became president twice is enough for anybody to call his bluff. 

According to Wall, Obasanjo failed to comply with the party’s rules and procedure which governed the step of resigning from the party.

  He said that as a former chairman of the party’s Board of Trustees, Obasanjo should have known the right thing to do.

 In the same vein , the National Coordinator, Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC), Gani Adams wondered why the PDP failed to expel  Obasanjo from the party before now.

  He said that the former president has been involved in anti- party activities right from 2011 when he deliberately fought former Governor of Ogun State, Gbenga Daniel to a standstill in favour of Governor Ibikunle Amosun of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN).

Ex-Head of State’s decision good riddance to bad rubbish, says  Fayose

From Muyiwa Adeyemi (Head South West Bureau Ado Ekiti)

EKITI  State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, has described the exit of the former President Olusegun Obasanjo from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as a good omen to the party, saying, “Obasanjo’s exit is good riddance to bad rubbish.

He noted: “His departure is inglorious, we will never miss him”.

 Fayose, who said for Obasanjo to have torn his PDP membership card was a vindication of his stance that the former president should have been shown a red card by the PDP a long time ago.

 He added:”Now the PDP can sleep with two eyes closed because the lion among our brethren, the tormentor of Nigeria just departed from our party to join the All Progressives Congress (APC).”

  The governor, who reacted to Obasanjo’s exit from the PDP through his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Idowu Adelusi, said the former president was “a man without honour” who has been the major problem of the PDP and that “tearing his membership card was to save him from imminent expulsion.”

  “Obasanjo shouldn’t just tear his PDP membership card; he should

relinquish the ownership of Bell University, Obasanjo Farms, Obasanjo Presidential Library, and other financial benefits he got during his eight years as president,” Fayose said.

  Speaking further, Fayose said; “Obasanjo’s formal exit from the PDP at this time will further enhance the chance of the party in the presidential election because Nigerians will now see that eight out of the 16 years that the APC claimed was a waste was spent by the party because Obasanjo and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, who ruled Nigeria from 1999 to 2007 are now members of APC.

  “If there is anything negative about PDP, Obasanjo contributed 50 percent. His eight years tenure is part of the 16 years that the APC people claim is a waste. And now that Obasanjo and Atiku are members

of APC, it can be said that APC ruled Nigeria from 1999 to 2007 and the party should be ready to accept Obasanjo, Atiku’s led administration  liabilities.

 Earlier , Fayose had described Obasanjo as Nigeria’s  number one enemy, saying; “he is a confusionist who has lost his status as a statesman and Nigerians should simply ignore him.”

 The governor, who expressed confidence that President Goodluck Jonathan will be re-elected to complete his eight years term, added that; “Obasanjo is only fighting President Jonathan because he prevented him (Obasanjo) from ruling Nigeria from his Ota Farm.”

  In a statement on Sunday by his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, Fayose said “Obasanjo is a cancer that may never get cured in a lifetime.

 “The moment Obasanjo is not the one controlling a house, he will want the house pulled down but this time around, he has failed.”

Group seeks probe of ex-leader over comments

From Kanayo Umeh, Abuja

Executive Secretary of the Centre for Social Justice, Equity and Transparency, Comrade Ola Oluwasanmi, called for the investigation of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo by security agencies over recent comments in the press attributed to him.

  Oluwasanmi, who described Obasanjo’s comments as “divisive and inflammatory, capable of causing public unrest”, called on the State Security Services and the Nigerian Police to investigate the tone and manner of the former president’s pronouncements.

  The pro-democracy activist who addressed the press yesterday in Abuja, berated Obasanjo for comparing President Goodluck Jonathan to former Ivory Coast president, Mgbabo saying “such comment was not expected of a statesman he claims to be”.

  “In the interest of national unity and sustenance of our hard earned democracy, it will be only right and safe for the State Security Services and Nigerian Police to swing into thorough investigation of these divisive and inflammatory comments that are capable of causing unrest in the nation,” he appealed.

  According to him, the prediction of a coup by Obasanjo should not be taken lightly as he is a retired military officer who may have been privy to or part of some plot by his former comrades to unseat this government. He thus pleaded that the retired general be questioned by the relevant authorities to forestall the collapse of law and order which may culminate into the predicted coup.

Lawyer cautions against harassment of ex-president, others 

By Abiola Salauden

A U.S-based lawyer, Mr. Dele Alade, has cautioned against any action that may endanger or harm the National Leader of All Progressives Congress (APC) Bola Ahmed Tinubu. 

  Speaking in New York yesterday at a memorial service in honour of the late Rev. Tunji Adebiyi organized by Egbe Omo Yoruba, Alade condemned the alleged deployment of soldiers near Tinubu’s house in Ikoyi, Lagos. 

 Alade said the Yoruba know who to hold responsible if any harm should happen to Tinubu, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, Chief Bisi Akande, Prof Wole Soyinka and other prominent Yoruba sons and daughters perceived to be enemies of people in the corridor of power. 

  He said the Yoruba in the Diaspora are ready to defend their land and their people against any harassment, intimidation and aggression. He said that the Yoruba have learnt from the travails and killing of Chief MKO Abiola and will not standby and watch the Nigerian state victimize, oppress and kill any of their sons or daughters when they are exercising their legitimate constitutional rights and political beliefs.

S’W PDP berates former president  

From Muyiwa Adeyemi (Head South West Bureau Ado Ekiti)

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the South west has described the action of former President Olusegun Obasanjo who yesterday  tore  his PDP membership card as “childish, self-serving and cruel.

The party  added  that “instead of turning himself to a masquerade, dancing naked in the market place, Obasanjo should be honest enough to disclose those selfish demands that he made from President Goodluck Jonathan, which the president declined.

  Zonal Chairman of the party, Chief Makanjuola Ogundipe, said in a statement yesterday that the party will not miss the former president.

  He said; “Obasanjo ceased from being a member of the PDP since last year. He only formalised his exit from our party today(yesterday) and we in the PDP are relieved now that we no longer have a mole among us.”

  “In the first instance, he has never contributed a dime to the PDP, a party that made him President. Rather, he has promoted strife and rebellion among members for his own selfish interests.

  “It was his selfishness that caused us the governorship election in Ogun State in 2011 and it was his high handedness that led to the exit of key members of the party. We are therefore happy that he has finally bid us farewell and we will not miss him.”

  Ogundipe called on members of the party, especially in the Southwest to remain steadfast in their support for the party, its presidential candidate, Jonathan and other candidates of the party in the forthcoming general elections.