Sunday PUNCH reliably 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. Source: PunchNg
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