Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has charged the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party in the Southwest to purge the party of “bad eggs and hypocrites.”
Obasanjo said the people he described as “bad eggs” lack the commitment to return PDP to its lost glory.
The ex-president spoke on Sunday when he played host to PDP leaders from Southwest, led by the party’s National Vice Chairman (Southwest), Dr. Eddy Olafeso, at his Pent-House Residence in Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta, Ogun State.
The former President said many leaders of the party are after “their pockets and stomach.”
He wondered why some top echelon left the party shortly after the results of the 2019 presidential election was announced, noting that other members have lost hope.
According to Obasanjo, Nigeria demands a vibrant voice and opposition in PDP, with a view to building a virile democracy.
Obasanjo said for PDP to bounce back, it must purge itself of hypocrites and bad eggs, and shop for those he called “critical mass of committed people,” who will be “ready to stand with the party, come rain, come shine.”
Obasanjo said, “I knew PDP would lose election in 2015 because it was clear. And I knew PDP will need to be rebuilt after losing the election.
“You need what I call critical mass of committed people, and come rain, come shine they are committed. With that, you can make Nigeria better.
“You see people’s faces beautiful, but you don’t know what each person harbors inside of him.
“If you discover a bad egg, remove such a person. And if such person has learnt his or her lessons, there can still be room to accommodate the person.”
Comparing PDP presidential candidate in the 2019 election, Atiku Abubakar, with President Muhammadu Buhari, Obasanjo said, “If you compare the two of them, with what I know and all I have written about the incumbent which they have decided to cover up, Atiku is better than the incumbent by far. That’s the point I am making. And nobody is perfect.”
Earlier in his address, Olafeso explained that the visit was to celebrate Obasanjo on his 82nd birthday, which he marked recently and to also thank him for his support for the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, in the 2019 elections.
“We could not have done well in the last elections in the Southwest without your support. Your voice resonates above all the lies told in the country and you told the world what is actually happening in your country.
“You decided that you are going to stand up and fight. There is nothing we can say here that would compensate for the role you have played.
“You supported our presidential candidate and I know for sure that he won that election, even if the powers-that-be decided to write results for themselves in the North; and I know fully well that God will take this thing back to our party.”
Among those at the meeting were Senate Minority Leader, Biodun Olujimi; Senators-elect, Oyo South Kola Balogun; Ondo Central, Ayo Akinyelure; Rep-elect (Ibarapa North and Central), Hon Ajibola Muraina; former Osun State Governor, Olagunsoye Oyinlola; former Minister of State for Defence, Erelu Olusola Obada; and PDP gubernatorial candidate in Ekiti State 2018 election, Prof. Olusola Eleka,
Also at the meeting were, former Deputy Governor of Lagos, Kofoworola Bucknor-Akerele; former Deputy National Chairman, Shuaibu Oyedokun; PDP governorship candidate in 2017 Ondo State governorship election, Eyitayo Jegede (SAN), among others.