Tukur replies Obasanjo, begs him to stay in PDP

PDP Chairman, Bamanga Tukur

Mr. Tukur rationalised the influence of Mr. Kashamu.
The National Chairman of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Bamanga Tukur, has replied former president Olusegun Obasanjo’s letter. Mr. Tukur begged the former president not to leave the PDP.
Mr. Obasanjo had earlier sent a one-page letter, dated January 7, to Mr. Tukur, telling the National Chairman that he intended to withdraw from the party’s activities at the local, state and federal levels over the allegation that the Chairman of the Organisation and Mobilisation Committee of the party in the South West, Buruji Kashamu, is a wanted man in the United States of America.
Mr. Tukur asked Mr. Obasanjo to reconsider his decision to withdraw from the activities of the party. He also explained the circumstances that led to the emergence of Mr. Kashamu as a leader of the party in the South West.
In his letter, the PDP chairman said Mr. Kashamu came to limelight in politics as a result of the role he played in the politics of Ogun state where both himself and Mr. Obasanjo come from.
He added that Mr. Kashamu became a rallying point in the South-west following the Court Orders in the series of cases brought about as a result of disagreements among leaders of the party in the South-west, and Ogun State in particular.

“In my opinion, Buruji became a rallying point because of the absence of a zonal executive in the South-west. This vacuum in the South-west has made him the person to whom many members in all the chapters of the party in the zone approach for one form of assistance or the order.
“We came in when we were threatened with contempt of court charges for not obeying the court’s order to dissolve the South-west zonal executive and remove some officers of the party.
“We complied with the court’s orders because of our belief in the rule of law and to avoid consequences of disobeying such orders,” Mr. Tukur said.
It is not yet clear if Mr. Obasanjo would reconsider his decision following the request by Mr. Tukur.
Efforts to reach the former president or his spokesperson were unsuccessful.