Obasanjo insists he is done with party politics
Nigeria’s former President Olusegun Obasanjo is not forming a new political party.
On Monday, a report had emerged that the former President had picked three Governors to coordinate the formation of a new political party consisting of the aggrieved members of Nigeria’s ruling party, the All Progressives Congress and the main opposition, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
The report, which appeared credible because such an arrangement had culminated in the formation of the APC to take power in 2015, had unsettled many as the battle for Nigeria’s Presidency begins ahead of the 2023 elections.
However, the former President has denied the reports, saying he has no plans whatsoever to float a new political party.
Obasanjo, who was in Kabul in Afghanistan, as a guest of President Ashraf Ghani, accused some unnamed persons of planning to drag his name in the mud.
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Describing the report as a fabrication, the former President in a statement on Monday by his Special Assistant on Media Affairs, Kehinde Akinyemi, said he was not shocked by the fake report.
“The fabricated story hardly comes as a surprise because he has, for some time now, observed with bewilderment the efforts by some people to drag him into their political games.
“Upon hearing of this latest fabricated report, Chief Obasanjo said, “In my part of the world, when you say goodnight in a place, you do not go back there and say good evening. The one who reported that may need to visit Yaba left (a psychiatrist hospital). And those who believe it can believe that their mothers are men.
“I’m done with partisan politics but by my position in Nigeria and in Africa and without being immodest; and indeed in the world, my door must be opened and it is open to any individual or group of individuals who want to seek my opinion, view or advice on any issue or matter and I will respond to the best of my ability, without being part of that individual or group.
“If anything, Chief Obasanjo’s political party today is the party of Nigerians facing insecurity, unemployment, hunger, poverty, and various other challenging issues. It is the party of Nigeria which must be saved, kept wholesomely united in peace, security, equity, development and progress,” Obasanjo said in the statement.
