On Saturday, January 22, former President Olusegun Obasanjo told stakeholders of the Peoples Democratic Party that he will never come back to the opposition party where he was elected President of Nigeria for two terms.
When he had a dispute with ex-President Goodluck Jonathan in the run-up to the 2015 election, Obasanjo resigned from the party.
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo told the PDP’s National Chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, and other stakeholders who paid him a visit in Abeokuta, Ogun State, on Saturday that he had no intention of returning to partisan politics or the PDP.
Peter Obi, the PDP’s Vice Presidential candidate in the 2019 election, is among those on the team, as are former Governors Sule Lamido (Jigawa), Olusegun Mimiko (Ondo), Liyel Imoke (Cross River), and Donald Duke (Cross River).
Following a closed-door meeting, Obasanjo addressed the larger gathering of PDP stakeholders, admitting that having governed Nigeria twice on the PDP platform, the party would remain a part of his history.
Obasanjo said; “I’m no longer in partisan politics and there is nothing that can bring me 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 furthermore told Ayu that the responsibility of the PDP and Nigeria is on him and prayed that God would give him the wisdom to handle it.
“If you leave PDP, the blood of PDP will never leave you,” Ayu said in response to Obasanjo. He stated that his fatherly advice on Nigerian governance would always be sought by the party.
Ayu went on to praise Obasanjo for his commitment to the country’s progress, unity, and development, saying that “what we have now falls short of the leadership Nigeria deserves.”
