Obasanjo And His Days In PDP

On Monday February 16, in a dramatic fashion, former President Olusegun Obasanjo, tore into shreds his Peoples Democratic Party, PDP’s, membership card and declared ceasing to be a member of the party which in 1999 brought him from a hopeless state in prison to become the number one citizen of the most populous country of black nations. EBERE NDUKWU examines his days in PDP.

For many Nigerians, it was not news that former President Olusegun Obasanjo finally dumped the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. Having watched him severally attacked the incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan, and indulging in what many have referred to as anti-party activities, culminating in his open support and endorsement of the opposition All Progressives Congress, APC, presidential candidate for the coming election, General Muhammadu Buhari, good number of Nigerians already knew his days in the party were numbered.

What actually was news and certainly will remain in the political archive of Nigeria, many analysts believe, is the manner and fashion Obasanjo dumped the PDP, a party that made him its presidential candidate, rallied round him and ensured he became the president of the country. A party on other way round, he has also done so much for, especially in positioning it to the height it has attained and maintained today.

Thus, for a good number of Nigerians, tearing into shreds, the party’s membership card is certainly not a better way of calling it quits with a party that took him from an incapacitated state in prison to a glorious position in Aso Rock.

From prison to Presidency

Dumped in prison by General Sani Abacha’s regime in 1995 on fabricated charges of plotting a coup to depose him, Obasanjo became President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in 1999, following the demise of Abacha. In an apparent move to compensate the Yoruba people, after Moshood Abiola, believed to have won the 1993 presidential election, but was denied by the military government headed by Ibrahim Babangida, the Northerners saw 1999 return to civil rule as the best time to compensate the Yoruba, by having their son as president.

Like Jigawa State governor, Sule Lamido, recently said in an interview, the nation “needed someone who will take the country out of bickering and bring about unity. We decided that the Yoruba had been wrongly treated and must be appeased because of their son, Abiola. Obasanjo was in prison, and we were looking for a Yoruba Nigerian president, not president of Nigeria for the Yorubas. If we had asked the Yorubas to give us a president, they would have given us Bola Ige, Abraham Adesanya or Olu Falae. These people may not solve the problem of uniting the nation because we feared they might be pursuing ethnic agenda. Our leaders reflected and decided to bring out Obasanjo, a man whom we knew was very sound and a nationalist.”

With an overwhelming mandate and with the support of almost all sections of the nation, except Obasanjo’s Yoruba tribesmen and women, Nigerians had real hope that because he was a former Head of State and had spent some time in prison on trumped up charges, that President Obasanjo would come in and help the country.

He was thought to have the requisite experience and was therefore given a rare second opportunity to have a go at the leadership of Nigeria. After fifteen years of repressive rule that saw Nigeria slip into a pariah status internationally, Obasanjo quickly emerged as the front-runner to lead the country’s historic transition back to democracy.

Obasanjo was re-elected in 2003 and he handed over to late President Musa Yar’Adua in 2007. Though his eightyear reign as president was eventful, his alleged attempt to go for a third term that would have seen him leading the country for a cumulative 15 years, smeared his record as a non-sit-tight leader in a continent characterised by sittight rulers.

Roles

Before bowing out on May 29, 2007, Obasanjo ensured that his party retained presidential power through late President Yar’Adua and Dr Goodluck Jonathan. He also paved the way for a post-presidency role for himself in the PDP and got the party’s constitution amended to reserve the chairmanship of the party’s Board of Trustees, BoT, for only former presidents and national chairmen. The BoT was also made the highest decision-making body of the party as contained in section 12.76 of the party’s constitution.

With his emergence as BoT chairman, Obasanjo brought his influence to bear on the affairs of the party. When Yar’Adua became terminally ill about two years into his four year tenure, Obasanjo, who first visited the ailing president in a Saudi hospital returned to champion the crusade for then Vice President Goodluck Jonathan to be sworn-in as acting president as Yar’Adua did not handover to him before travelling out.

Criticism of Jonathan

Obasanjo’s face off with President Jonathan came to the public domain in 2013 in an 18-page letter addressed to Jonathan, entitled “Before it is too late,” where he accused Jonathan of failing Nigerians in his position as the President of the country.

In the letter, Obasanjo among other issues reminded President Jonathan of his promise to spend only a single term, saying that the broken promises by the President casts him as a man without honour.

He accused him of being the mastermind of the crisis in the party that later saw many of its members defected to the opposition party, saying Jonathan was guilty of ‘misplaced allegiance’ towards PDP by supporting opposition parties’ candidates in governorship elections in Lagos, Ondo, Edo and Anambra states at the detriment of PDP’s own candidates.

Obasanjo also accused the President of not tackling the Boko Haram menace head on, urging him to adopt a carrot and stick approach in dealing with the insurgency explaining that “conventional military actions based on standard phases of military operations alone will not permanently and effectively deal with the issue of Boko Haram.”

Obasanjo also accused Jonathan in the letter, of being tribalistic, training snipers and other armed personnel clandestinely and acquiring weapons for political purposes like Abacha and “training them where Abacha trained his killers” as well as placing over 1000 Nigerians on political watch list.

A reply to Obasanjo by President Jonathan and another letter written by Obasanjo’s first daughter, Iyabo and even the more recent peace moves to Ota by selected PDP governors and the much more recent one by Jonathan himself, accompanied by Pastors Enoch Adeboye and David Oyedepo, were not enough to stop Obasanjo from attacking and criticising Jonathan, as he used every available opportunity to discredit him.

As much as Jonathan tried stopping him from launching his book, “My Watch,” targeted at the President, Obasanjo went ahead and launched the book regardless of the court injunction restraining him from doing so.

The situation got messier with Obasanjo endorsing APC presidential candidate for the coming 2015 presidential election and likening Jonathan to the former president of Cote d’Ivoire, Laurent Gbagbo, following the post ponement of general elections which was 38 DAYS TO GO supposed to be held on February 14 across the country.

Obasanjo declared that the postponement was a big shock and surprise to him, adding that, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, was forced to make the poll shift.

He said: “President Jonathan has a grand plan to ensure that by hook or crook, he wins the election and if he fails, he scuttles it and brings chaos, confusion and unpleasantness in the whole country. It is either he is following his own grand plan or playing a script, which of course, must have gotten his endorsement.

“He is trying to play Gbagbo, the former president of Cote D’Ivoire. He postponed election in his country, until he saw that he will win. He did not allow elections to hold, when it eventually held, it was an inconclusive election. In the runoff election, he lost to Quattara and he refused to hand over, he unleashed horror in that country until nemesis caught up with him. I believe we may be seeing a repeat of that, what I called, ‘Gbagbo Saga’.”

Tearing of membership card

Obasanjo’s unending criticism of the President led to his PDP Ward 11, in Abeokuta North Local Government Area of Ogun State members to ask him the status of his continued membership of the party, following what they claimed as the no love lost relationship between him and President Jonathan.

In his response, Obasanjo said he had his ears close to the ground and claimed to have heard of plans by the PDP leadership to sanction him, saying: “They said they want to expel me from PDP, although I have not been told, but I have my ears on ground. We’ve been trying to run away from a man but he pleads we wait for him at the other side of the river. I have told you before that I became president on the platform of PDP. Once I leave PDP, I will not join any party.

“I will only be a Nigerian; I’m ready to work with anybody regardless of political affiliation. Why would some people say they want to send me away? They don’t need to bother themselves, here’s your membership card, take it,” as he handed over the card to the ward chairman.

He added: “From today on, in the presence of all of us and with your support, I am not going to be in any political party in Nigeria. I am no more a politician, but a statesman both internally and externally. Once you people are with me, what other people am I looking for?

“And on the day of election, whatever it takes”, the PVC must be obtained, you don’t need to be a politician before you get your PVC. On the day of election, you can vote for your choice, but I will vote for those who will repair Nigeria and not those who will destroy it.”

Justifying the reason for tearing his membership card, Obasanjo in three tweets on Monday night said: “I’d rather sacrifice my political party for the interest of Nigeria than sacrifice my country for a political party led by a drug baron.

“I’d rather tear the PDP membership card than sit down and let Jonathan use PDP and corruption to tear my beloved country apart.

“I have national and international standard to maintain. For this reason I’d rather stand alone than be in the same political party with Kashamu.”

Obasanjo said that the party membership card he tore was one of the considerations to him in the bid to project Nigeria, pointing out that there was nothing he could not sacrifice in the interest of the nation.

He boasted that despite the destruction of his party card, he would not be cowed by anyone, as he was still ready to comment on any matter that required his comment or view.

He said: “If there is anything that requires my comment, position or views, I will say it. It is only when you kill me that I will stop doing so.”

The former President, known to have spearheaded the emergence of the Jonathan Presidency, explained that being patriotic demanded the will to sacrifice anything, including his life for the interest of Nigeria, but not his life for a political party.

But regardless of these reasons given by the former President for tearing his PDP membership card and many more reasons he may be giving in the coming days, many analysts believe that Jonathan has at last won the battle, since Obasanjo with all that he has achieved and done for the party, could for one man dump the party.

The argument among many Nigerian analysts is the justification of this criticism because an assessment of the merits and demerits of the tenures of both leaders throw up some differences and similarities.

Though there is no denying the fact that this administration may not have met the expectations of Nigerians, especially in areas such as the fight against corruption, the rising debt profile, the sickening culture of waste in government circles, insecurity, decaying infrastructure, power and rising poverty rate, the questions many analysts are asking are: Did Obasanjo fare any better in his time? Was the PDP more disciplined under Obasanjo?

If for nothing, President Jonathan can be credited with providing a level-playing field in ensuring free and fair elections so far. This is in sharp contrast to former President Obasanjo who as leader, trampled on the rule of law and practised “do-or-die” brand of politics that violently rigged elections.

Though one will not be fair to the former President by denying the fact that he scored fair points in his fight against corruption, but many have also blamed him for using the anti-corruption agency to settle personal scores.

So, to many Nigerians, Obasanjo’s eight years was largely a disappointment. Just like Jonathan, he had the goodwill and resources to radically transform the country, but he sadly lost the opportunity; he failed to envision his place in history and acted as if there was no tomorrow.

Rather than engage in criticism, selfseeking rhetoric with the incumbent and finally tearing his membership card, many Nigerians think Obasanjo should have sought a better way of handling the matter.