He has been abused and attacked, but former Nigerian president, Olusegun Obasanjo said he does not regret tearing his membership card of the ruling Peoples Democratic party and renouncing his association, after 16 years.
He spoke today in an interview with the online news portal, Premiumtimesng.com.
Obasanjo explained the drama that led to the action following the visit to his residence by some leaders of the party, from his Ward 11, led by Surajudeen Oladunjoye, the chairman of the ward.
He explained that the PDP members visited him at his Presidential Hilltop Mansion to express their genuine concern about his refusal to be active in the party.
“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.
*Originally Published by premiumtimesng.com @http://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/177051-why-i-directed-pdp-ward-leader-to-tear-my-membership-card-obasanjo.html