As criticisms and commendations continue to trail
his dramatic exit of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo from the People’s Democratic
Party, former President has explained how he arrived at the decision to dump
the party to which he belonged for 16 years.
However, in a telephone interview, Obasanjo
explained that; “They were concerned that I had only one leg in the party, and
worried that since I’m their leader in the ward, they need to hear from me,”
the former President said.
According to him, when the party members arrived his residence,
they were singing a song in Yoruba Language “Nigeria yi ti gbobgo wa ni, Ko ma
gbodo ba je. Eje ka sowopo kajo gbega (Meaning – Nigeria belongs to all of us,
we must not allow it to be destroyed and we must join hands to make it great).
Mr. Obasanjo said when they settled down he sought to
know why they came and that it was at that point that Mr. Oladunjoye told him
that since he (Obasanjo) as their leader became angry with the PDP and remained
inactive in the party, they had not only lost sense of direction but also
worried about their political future.
He also said the
party members informed him that the leadership in the state was planning to
expel him and that they wondered what would happen to them if he was expelled
because they would become rudderless.
“You are our leader and it is you we are following. You
have remained a card-carrying member of the the party. But since you became
angry with the party we have lost sense of direction and now we are hearing
that they want to expel you. If they expel you, where do we go? What do we do?”
Mr. Obasanjo quoted the ward chairman as saying.
The former president explained that it was at that point
that he gave them his PDP membership card and told them that they could do
whatever they want with it.
He said, “In my response, I said when you people came you
were singing a song and I agreed that Nigeria is our own. If the issue is
the party, I will not choose the party at the detriment of Nigeria and I will
fight for Nigeria even at the detriment of the party. I will rather surrender
my membership of the party so you people can move on politically,” Mr. Obasanjo
explained to Premium Times.
“If you people’s worry is that I’m a card-carrying member
of the party and I’m not showing you people direction and you are worried that
I’m neither here nor there, this is the card; you can keep it, you can burn it
or you can tear it, do whatever you want to do with it.”
The former president said he then handed over his
membership card to Mr. Oladunjoye, who immediately decided on his own to shred
it.
Mr. Obasanjo said he had no regrets for his action
despite the criticisms that have greeted it.
Source: Premium Times
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