OBJ’s Resignation: Baba Has Paid His Dues —Aide

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As reactions continued to trail the resignation of former President of Nigeria and Chairman of the Board of Trustees (BoT) of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, one of his aids has cautioned Nigerians to leave the old man alone as he had paid his dues in service to his fatherland.

Speaking with P.M.NEWS this morning on phone, the Chief Security Officer (CSO) to Obasanjo, Alhaji Bidemi Akande wondered why people are worried about Obasanjo’s resignation, adding that the former President has acted within the constitution of the PDP.

According to him ,”why are you people worried about Baba’s action? Do you know what the PDP Constitution says about the BoT Chairmanship? Why can’t you go and read it?”

The aide said: “The constitution of the party states that a chairman of its BoT should be in office for one term of five years and Baba’s tenure will end in July 2012 and he resigned before then. There is nothing attached to it that is different from what some dailies reported today. The man has served this country meritoriously and if he resigned now, he has tried his best for this country and the party. He should be allowed to face what remains of him. He has paid his dues for this country.”

Also commenting, a stalwart of the party and former chairman of the party in Ogun State, Elder Joju Fadairo, ruled out any political undertone to the resignation of Obasanjo as the Chairman of the BoT of PDP.

The resignation of Obasanjo which caught party members unawares on Tuesday in Abeokuta, was described by the former state chairman of PDP as, “normal and a confirmation that Obasanjo is a great democrat.”

Speaking with our correspondent in a telephone interview Tuesday night, Fadairo said: “Baba left when the ovation is loudest. We are very proud of him. He has demonstrated that he is actually a great democrat. He had served well in that position.”

He described Obasanjo as a world leader, whose schedule is very tight now, adding, “as I can tell you his programme for the month of May is filled up. So, if he resigns, there is nothing wrong”.

On his successor, Fadairo pointed out that he entertained no fear about who steps into the shoes of the former President, saying, “I can assure you that there is a good replacement for him.”

A source told our correspondent this morning that Obasanjo had hinted last year that he would step aside after the party’s convention this year to attend to his Library project in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.

When our correspondent contacted the governorship candidate of the party in the last general election, Gen. Tunji Olurin (retd.), hesaid he is outside the country for now, adding “but I will confirm first before you get my reaction.”

Meanwhile, the PDP yesterday inaugurated the newly elected executive officers from the ward to the local government levels in Ogun State.

Chairman of the Ogun West Senatorial District of the party, Asiwaju Leye Abiodun Odunjo confirmed the issue, adding that the mission of the party now after the inauguration is to commence harmonisation processing.

According to the former member of the G-15 lawmakers in Ogun State who represented Ota, “We had our inauguration across the state yesterday and what follows next now is to move out and reconcile all the warring factions in the party so as to come back as one big family we used to be.

“We cannot afford to lose out this time around, we are assuring our people that we are going to take some local government council seats during the coming election and by the grace of God, PDP is coming back on board in Ogun, come 2015,” Odunjo said.

Our correspondent gathered from a reliable source that the new southwest chairman of the PDP, Engr. Segun Oni will be visiting Chief Olusegun Obasanjo today in Abeokuta.

—Abiodun Onafuye/Abeokuta

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