Saturday, January 11, 2014
News Man
One of our nation’s most avid letter writers, former president Chief
Olusegun Obasanjo, has written another letter, this time to PDP National
Chairman Bamanga Tukur, informing him of his disdain with the
activities of the parties and his withdrawal from the party.
The former president, in the letter, said he was withdrawing from all
activities of the party because the PDP had been negating the
principles of morality, decency and discipline in its decisions,
especially as they affect the South West where he comes from.
The letter, dated January 7, 2014, according to a source at the
national secretariat of the party, was received in the office of Tukur
on Wednesday, 8 January, 2014. It is believed that President Jonathan
also got his own copy on Thursday.
The three paragraph letter reads:
“While I believe that a good and truly national political party must be a
microcosm of the nation in its membership, made up of all sorts of
characters from near-saints to near-satan, I also believe that on no
account should a known habitual criminal that is wanted abroad to face
criminal charges levelled against him be extolled as a political leader
in a respectable and wholesome nation-building political party.
“Buruji Kashamu has been so extolled in PDP in South-West
geo-political zone which I personally find unsavoury. Politics played by
any national political party must have morality, decency, discipline,
principles and leadership examples as cardinal practices of the party. I
have attached here recent documents that clearly indicate that your
extolled PDP Zonal Leader in the South-West zone of Nigeria and an
indigene of Ogun State is, to say the least, not a credit to the party
as a member, let alone being a zonal leader.
“Since I stick in my practice of party politics to the hallowed and
cherished principles enunciated above, I take this opportunity to let
you know that while I continue to remain a card-carrying member of PDP, I
cannot and I will not subscribe to a wanted habitual criminal being
installed as my zonal leader in the party; a criminal for whom
extradition has been requested by the US government. In the meantime, I
will consider withdrawing my activity with PDP at local, state, zonal
and national levels until the anomalous and shameful situation is
corrected.”