Former President Olusegun Obasanjo on has urged the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to purge itself of “bad eggs and hypocrites,” whom he said, lacked commitment to return the opposition party to its lost glory.
Obasanjo rued that many of the PDP leaders are still preoccupied with what ministers to “their pockets and stomach,” wondering why some of them left the party while others lost hope the seconds the results of 2019 Presidential election were announced.
The elder statesman spoke on Sunday evening, when the Southwest PDP leaders led by the party’s National Vice Chairman (South West), Dr Eddy Olafeso, visited him at his Pent-House Residence within the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL), Abeokuta, Ogun State.
In attendance at the meeting are; Senate Minority Leader, Biodun Olujimi, Senators-elect, Oyo South, Kola Balogun, Ondo Central, Ayo Akinyelure, Rep-elect (Ibarapa North and Central), Hon Ajibola Muraina, former Osun State Governor, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, former Minister for State for Defence, Erelu Olusola Obada and PDP gubernatorial candidate in Ekiti State 2018 election, Prof Olusola Eleka,
Obasanjo told his guests that Nigerian situation demands a vibrant voice and opposition in PDP to engender a virile democracy.
The former Head of States also bemoaned the failure of leadership in the country, saying Nigeria can’t move forward “if we continue the way we are.”
Obasanjo whose Coalition for Nigerian Movement (CNM) failed to provide a formidable force to unhorse President Muhammadu Buhari and his the All Progressives Congress (APC) at the centre, advised PDP to purge itself of “hypocrites and bad eggs.”
He noted that the purging exercise would put the party on a higher pedestal to scout for those he called “critical mass of committed people,” who “would be ready to stand with the party come rain, come shine.”
Obasanjo said: “I knew PDP would lose election in 2015 because it was clear. And I knew PDP will need to be rebuilt after losing the election.
“You need what I call critical mass of committed people, and come rain, come shine they are committed. With that, you can make Nigeria better.
“You see peoples’ faces beautiful but you don’t know what each person harbours inside of him. If you discover a bad egg, remove such a person. And if such person has learnt his or her lessons there can still be room to accommodate the person.
“Politically speaking, you can’t be my friend if you don’t buy into the Nigeria’s project. For me, till death, I will continue to push for a better Nigeria.
“I said if you compare the two of them (referring to Atiku and Buhari); with what I know and all I have written about the incumbent which they have decided to cover up, Atiku is better than the incumbent by far. That’s the point I am making. And nobody is perfect.
“I am not a perfect person. I have my shortcomings. If I deny my shortcomings, it means I am not being truthful to myself. But, my shortcomings have nothing to do with my love for Nigeria. It has nothing to do with being greedy or selfishness.”
Earlier, Olafeso explained that the visit was to celebrate Obasanjo on his 82nd birthday which he marked recently and equally thanked him for his support for the PDP Presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar in the 2019 elections.
He described the Ebora Owu as loyal, upright and committed leader that is “ready to speak the truth to the power” fearlessly.
“We could not have done well in the last elections in the South West without your support. Your voice resonates above all the lies told in the country and you told the world what is actually happening in your country. You decided that you are going to stand up and fight. There is nothing we can say here that would compensate the role you have played.
“You supported our presidential candidate and I know for sure that he won that election even if the powers-that-be decided to write results for themselves in the North. It is certainly sure that it is the corner you asked all of us to go that won that election and I know fully-well that God will take this thing back to our party,” Olafeso said.
Also at the meeting are, former Deputy Governor of Lagos, Kofoworola Bucknor-Akerele, former Deputy National Chairman, Alhaji Shuaibu Oyedoku, PDP Governorship candidate in 2017 Ondo State Governorship election, Eyitayo Jegede SAN among others.
THE NATION
