Why I’ll never return to your party – Obasanjo tells PDP leaders

On Saturday, former President Olusegun Obasanjo told leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party that he can never return to the opposition party where he was elected as Nigeria’s President for two terms.

Obasanjo renounced his membership of the party, when he fell out with ex-President Goodluck Jonathan in the buildup to the 2015 election.

Addressing the National Chairman of the PDP, Iyorchia Ayu and other stakeholders who visited him in Abeokuta, Ogun State, on Saturday, the former President said he had no intention to return to partisan politics or the PDP.

Those on the team include PDP Vice Presidential candidate in 2019 election, Peter Obi, former Governors, Sule Lamido (Jigawa), Olusegun Mimiko (Ondo), Liyel Imoke (Cross River) and Donald Duke (Cross River).

Obasanjo who addressed the larger gathering of PDP stakeholders after a closed door meeting, admitted that having governed Nigeria twice on the PDP platform, the party would continue to be part of his history.

He said;

“I’m no longer in partisan politics and there is nothing that can bring back. Anybody who wants my advice, I will always be there in the best interest of Nigeria.

“Whatever I do in my own life…because I became president on the platform of PDP, PDP will continue to be part of my life. Since the day I tore my PDP card, that was the day I ceased to be a member of PDP. That day I vowed not to be a member of any political party.

“I will continue to be a statesman.”

Obasanjo also told Ayu that he has the problems of PDP and Nigeria on his shoulders, and prayed God give him the wisdom to carry it.

Responding, Ayu told Obasanjo that “if you leave PDP, the blood of PDP will never leave you.” He said the party would always require his fatherly advice towards governance in Nigeria.

Ayu further applauded Obasanjo for being passionate about the progress, unity and development of the country, noting that “what we have now falls short of the leadership Nigeria deserves.”

Obasanjo became chairman of the PDP Board of Trustees, with control over nominations for governmental positions and even policy and strategy. As one Western diplomat said, “He intends to sit in the passenger seat giving advice and ready to grab the wheel if Nigeria goes off course.” He voluntarily resigned as the chairman board of trustees of the PDP in April 2012. Afterward, he withdrew from political activities with PDP.