PDP: Obasanjo and the consequences of withdrawal Apart from being a former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo’s relevance in the present political calculations in the country cannot be overemphasized. At different points in time, his actions and inactions have attracted serious attention, causing tension in the political space at times. A case in point is his letter to the incumbent, President Goodluck Jonathan, where he accused him of becoming terribly divisive and clannish, destroying his own party, polarising the country along regional and religious lines and ridiculing Nigeria in the comity of nations. With the heat provoked by the letter yet to abate, the former president, only last week, fired another letter, this time, to the national chairman of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Bamanga Tukur. In it, he gave notice of his withdrawal from the activities of the party until after the anomalies in it had been corrected. And like other previous actions, the letter to Tukur has attracted so much attention. In the letter sent to PDP national chairman, which he also copied President Goodluck Jonathan, Obasanjo said he was withdrawing from all activities of the party because the PDP had been negating the principles of morality, decency and discipline in its decisions, especially as they affect the South-West where he comes from. In the one-page letter dated January 7, 2014, which became public on Friday January 10, Obasanjo accused the PDP leadership of imposing Prince Buruji Kashamu, who he described as a criminal wanted abroad, on the party as its South-West zonal leader. Obasanjo’s letter reads in parts: “Buruji Kashamu has been so extolled in PDP in South-West geo-political zone which I personally find unsavoury. Politics played by any national political party must have morality, decency, discipline, principles and leadership examples as cardinal practices of the party. I have attached here recent documents that clearly indicate that your extolled PDP Zonal Leader in the South-West zone of Nigeria and an indigene of Ogun State is, to say the least, not a credit to the party as a member, let alone being a zonal leader. “Since I stick in my practice of party politics to the hallowed and cherished principles enunciated above, I take this opportunity to let you know that while I continue to remain a card-carrying member of PDP, I cannot and I will not subscribe to a wanted habitual criminal being installed as my zonal leader in the party; a criminal for whom extradition has been requested by the US government. In the meantime, I will consider withdrawing my activity with PDP at local, state, zonal and national levels until the anomalous and shameful situation is corrected.” While some people see Obasanjo’s letter to Tukur as timely and wise decision for him to quit politics, others believe that the decision is unnecessary, considering his influence in the ruling party and Nigeria’s politics. In the history of Nigeria, Obasanjo is the only person that has served as Number One citizen of Nigeria both as a military man and as a civilian. Obasanjo’s letter of resignation as PDP chairman of BoT reads: “By relieving myself of the responsibility for chairmanship of BOT of PDP, I will have a bit more time to devote to the international demand on me. The resignation would give me time to give some attention to mentoring across the board nationally and internationally in those areas that I have acquired some experience, expertise and in which I have something to share.” Obasanjo’s resignation caused some ripples in the party but despite his resignation many people still see him as rallying point. Many party chieftains consulted him on regular basis. The opposition party is also not left out in reaching out to Obasanjo, considering the recent visit of the APC leaders to him in his Hilltop Mansion in Abeokuta. Irrespective of how people may view Obasanjo’s resignation as PDP chairman of BoT, one thing that is clear is that till date the ruling party seems not to have recovered from the decision taken by the former president in June 27, 2012. The ruling party since Obasanjo’s resignation as BoT chairman has been battling with internal wrangling and the crisis has caused great division in the party. The crisis has led to the factionalisation of the ruling party and the birth of Alhaji Kawu Baraje-led New Peoples Democratic Party (nPDP). The crisis eventually led to the mass movement of some of the founding members of the party to the opposition party, All Progressives Congress (APC). With the recent decision of Obasanjo to quit the ruling party, many people are of the view that his decision, if he eventually carries it out, will have a great effect on the ruling party, especially as Nigerians prepare for 2015 general elections. But some are of the view that Obasanjo’s threat to quit PDP will not have any significant impact considering the fact that the former president does not have a grip on the party like it used to have before, since the party’s structures have already been hijacked from him at the state, zonal and national level.
Posted on: Sat, 18 Jan 2014 09:01:59 +0000
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