We will not miss him — Anenih

The chairman of the Board of Trustees of the PDP, Chief Tony Anenih, yesterday, dismissed Obasanjo’s decision to dump the PDP, saying that “leaders will not miss” his departure.

In a brief interview with State House correspondents after meeting with President Jonathan, Chief Anenih said it is within Obasanjo’s right to dump the party.

“He (Obasanjo) has the right to leave any party, and he has the right to join any party, he is a Nigerian” Anenih said.

When he was queried by reporters whether PDP would not miss Obasanjo, Anenih replied: “Why should we miss him?”

Asked if the former president was not a big loss to the party, the BoT chairman said “to us leaders it is not a loss.”

Senator Walid Jubril, Secretary BoT

The secretary of the party’s Board of Trustees, BoT, Senator Walid Jubril said that as a former Chairman of BoT, who knows the procedure of resigning, the former president should have a re-think and resign properly.

“If I were him, I will not behave the way he did, there are procedures of leaving the party. He was Chairman, Board of Trustees, BoT of the party and with his position, he would have followed the procedure.

“There is nothing to celebrate there, it is not worth it, that is his palaver, not our own. As he left, millions have come to the party, many people like former Vice President Atiku Abubakar left before now. We are facing our Transformation Agenda for the people of Nigeria. Obasanjo should have a re-think and do the right thing by following the procedure of the party which gave him the platform to become the country’s president for eight years.”

Big yoke off PDP’s back — Babatope

Another member of the BoT Chief Ebenezer Babatope said, yesterday, that with the exit, a huge yoke has been lifted off the necks of PDP.

“Obasanjo leaving the PDP has come as a happy and welcome development. With Obasanjo’s exit, a huge yoke has been lifted off the necks of PDP. I congratulate the PDP for being patient in dealing with former President Obasanjo’s offensives against the party without embarking on wild and unproductive conclusions.

“Though Obasanjo is a hard fighter, his exit will have no effect of any kind on the PDP. The PDP will by God’s grace win the March elections.”

Olabode George, others

Former Deputy National Chairman of the PDP, Chief Olabode George; former governor of Ogun State, Otunba Gbenga Daniel; former Minister of Works, Senator Adeseye Ogunlewe among others, lampooned former President Olusegun Obasanjo for dumping the PDP.

George: Soon, FG will resolve Diya, others’ rights issue

This was contained in a statement issued and signed by members of the South-West Presidential contact Committee including Chief Olabode George, Senator Seye Ogunlewe, Maj. Gen. A.T. Olanrewaju, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, Elder Joju Fadairo, Otunba Adebisi Omoyeni, Amb. Toye Olofintuyi, Sen. Adefemi Kila, Chief Segun Adegoke, Prince Nekan Olateru-Olagbegi, Mr. Kingsley Kuku, Olayinka Omilani, Chief Ebenezer Babatope, Sen. Olu Alabi, Dr. Saka Balogun and Alhaji Mustapha Omokunmi.

The group condemned Obasanjo’s recent remarks saying it was “too personalised and provocative.”

The South-West PDP group said “the intervention of former President Olusegun Obasanjo in the current national challenges is distorted, unstatesmanly, too personalised and provocative.

“Former President Obasanjo cannot and must not assume the role of the Nigerian overlord with infallible wisdom.”

The committee also said “former President Obasanjo has descended into the bitter fray of a common partisan actor without the distinction and dignity of a rallying unifying leader.”

The group noted that Obasanjo has been “very inciting, precipitous and violent in his utterances and, therefore, likely to provoke untoward events in this nation.”

It, however, condemned “vigorously with all sense of patriotic candour any attempt by former President Obasanjo or anybody else, to provoke the collapse or vitiation of our democracy.”

Calling for the removal of the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Attahiru Jega, the group said the Commission was unprepared to conduct free and fair elections.

It’s unbecoming of an elder-statesman—Obanikoro

Former Minister of State for Defence, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro, yesterday, said the actions taken by former President Obasanjo was unbecoming of an elder-statesman.

Obanikoro said this at a youth interactive session organised by the Directorate of Youth Mobilisation of the PDP Presidential Campaign Organisation.

The former minister said: “What Obasanjo did is unbecoming of an elder-statesman. In the history of democracy or in any part of the world, I have never seen a situation whereby a former President on the platform of a party did what Obasanjo is reported to have done. If he did that, it shows the level this society has degenerated into and it is evident that such people, cannot be trusted with power.”

He was frustrated out – Ihonvbere

Prof. Julius Ihonvbere who worked as Special Adviser on Policy and Programmes Monitoring in the Obasanjo presidency said that the former president was frustrated as “baba never wanted to leave the PDP”.

Ihonvbere who himself left the PDP for the All Progressives Congress, APC, and is presently the Secretary to the Edo State Government (SSG), said “the manner at which he tore his PDP card and asked his ward chairman to do the same simply expresses his frustration with the PDP. A man who has been two term president under PDP, who has been chairman Board of Trustees of the PDP, for him to take that step means he has seen very many things that the average Nigerian has not seen.

“The PDP is busy insulting people, lying with statistics and documentaries while the APC is telling Nigerians what they want to do. So Baba is just expressing his dissatisfaction, and his belief and if you know him, that is him, that is his style, he does not pretend for too long.”

Obasanjo did nothing wrong—David West

“Obasanjo did not tear his membership card. He told his ward chairman to tear it. Obasanjo has a right to join a party of his choice. I have never joined any party in my life. As a statesman, if he did anything despicable, he should not be cautioned by the military. He was the chairman of the PDP board of trustees. He is a statesman that should be respected. He is a disciplined Nigerian and Nigeria should copy the discipline in the military and extend it to Obasanjo. He has done nothing wrong. He has the right to express himself politically and as a former Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces, he should be treated with the respect he deserves.

He is a double dealer— Owie

Also, yesterday, former Senate Whip, Senator Rowland Owie who described former President Obasanjo as a permanent double dealer, said: “I urge well meaning Nigerians, President Jonathan, and PDP, who believe in the unity of Nigeria, freedom of religion, not to be distracted by Obasanjo’s antics, for the Word of God says, “Why this uproar among the nations, this impotent muttering of the peoples? Kings of the earth take up position, princes plot together against Yahweh and his anointed, Now let us break the fetters! Now let us throw off their bonds! He who is enthroned in the Heavens laughs, Yahweh makes a mockery of them, then in His anger rebukes them, in His rage He strikes them with terror Psalm..2..v,.1-5..”

He is a mistake to the PDP — Ogundipe

South West Chairman of the PDP, Mr. Makanjuola Ogundipe on his part described Obasanjo as a mistake to the PDP.

Speaking with Vanguard, Ogundipe said: “Obasanjo is a mistake to PDP. When you find an elderly person abusing his junior, he is looking for trouble. I want to be quoted that when Obasanjo was in office, no one did what he is doing to Jonathan. Obasanjo will soon tell us what he has done for the Yourba race.

“Under Obasanjo, the Lagos-Ibadan expressway was a death trap. If you want to measure any government by achievements, Jonathan is ahead of him. Whatever opinion Obasanjo has, as far as I am concerned, it will have no effect on the coming elections. I won’t be surprised if Obasanjo is already acting the script of a foreign government that wants an Interim government in Nigeria. The Southwest people will not be deceived, we are solidly behind President Goodluck Jonathan and by the grace of God, he will be returned as president of Nigeria on March 28″.

Good decision – Benue CNPP

The Benue state chairman of the Conference of Nigeria Political Parties, CNPP, Mr. Baba Agan on his part lauded Obasanjo’s action saying “it is a step in the right direction.”

Agan, who spoke to reporters, yesterday, in Makurdi, the Benue state capital, said “the decision was also the mark of a true statesman.”

He said the former president “should be commended for his decision rather than being vilified by those who feel that his exit would be injurious to their political fortunes.

“Honestly, I think that what Obasanjo did was much expected, what he did was right and proper, because if you agree with me, at his level he shouldn’t be identified with any party.

Yoruba leaders, PDP chieftains react to Obasanjo’s exit

Speaking on the development, a former Minister of Works, Senator Adeseye Ogunlewe, said: “Obasanjo has laid that foundation before now. He did that through his actions and comments. We are not surprised that he did that. It is better for him to go than to remain a mole in the party.”

Founder of the Oodua Peoples Congress, OPC, Dr. Fredrick Fasheun said: “There is freedom of association and Obasanjo has just exercised that. I would not like to suggest the implications for the Yoruba people but it is not every Yoruba leader that can be followed by the people. A leader who does reasonable things will be followed. But when you do unreasonable things, you will not be followed.”

A former acting National Secretary of the PDP, Dr. Remi Akitoye said the exit of the former president will not affect the chances of the PDP especially in the South West.

Akitoye said: “Obasanjo is a responsible member of this society, he is a founding member of PDP. If there is any disagreement, time and space will resolve the issue, there is internal mechanism in the structure of the PDP that allows for dispute resolution. His exit will not and it cannot affect the chances of the PDP in the South West. What I am very particular about is that, we have a mechanism in the party to resolve this kind of disagreement. Time and space will reveal all this.”

He’s a wounded lion—Kashamu

On his part, Chairman, Organisation and Mobilisation Committee of the PDP South West, Prince Buruji Kashamu called for the immediate investigation and arrest of Obasanjo on grounds of alleged corruption.

Addressing newsmen in Lagos, Kashamu accused the former president of making unguarded utterances capable of heating up the polity.

He said: “My immediate reaction when I heard of Obasanjo’s latest outbursts were when did this pseudo-democrat become a defender of democracy? Who has corrupted our electoral and democratic firmament more than Chief Obasanjo? How can the architect of Third Term Agenda accuse anyone of trying to scuttle democracy? Obasanjo still wants to continue in power because if the All Progressives Congress (APC) wins, he will be the one that will control everything. All that is going on now is hypocritical, how can a pastor work with a fanatic?”

Accussing Obasanjo of working to subvert the will of the people, he said: “Let us not be deceived. As well-intentioned as Chief Obasanjo’s homily may seem, it is all lies. It is any open show of his manipulative skills and his well-known egoistic craving for power and relevance. Obasanjo is a wounded lion that should be caged to preserve the nation because he yearns to be ruling Nigeria through the back door.”

Obasanjo’s decision, wise but belated—Tsav

A retired Police Commissioner, Alhaji Abubakar Tsav, said: ‘’I think the action taken by Chief Obasanjo in dumping the PDP is honourable and in order. You will recall that when Obasanjo singularly nominated Jonathan as the running mate of late Umar Yar’Adua, many of his townsmen objected to that. On his part, Jonathan described Obasanjo as his benefactor next to God. Jonathan later referred to Obasanjo as motor-park tout.”

Fani-Kayode who was a minister under Obasanjo is today calling him names. This reminds me of Hubert Ogunde’s song, titled: Yoruba Ronu. Fayose has become so wild and undisciplined and has resorted to abusing Obasanjo. The PDP has degenerated into a party of thugs and desperate persons where truth has no place. No decent and responsible person will belong to such an organisation. I hail Obasanjo for his wise and belated decision.’’ Vanguard