Former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Wednesday described a former Senior Special Assistant to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan on Public Affairs, Doyin Okupe, as a hypocrite for describing him (Obasanjo) as the leader of the opposition PDP in the South West.
Obasanjo who was reacting to Okupe’s comments that he (Obasanjo) remained the “undisputed and authentic” leader of the PDP in the Southwest region of Nigeria, said he left partisan politics for good.
Okupe, also a former aide to Obasanjo, who made the disclosure on his Facebook account last Friday, also blasted Buruji Kashamu, a senator, who lays claim to being the leader of the PDP in the South West.
The former presidential aide said it was wrong to describe Kashamu leader of the party merely because he runs a local non-governmental organisation in Ogun State.
“Senator Buruji Kashamu is not the leader of the PDP in the South West. He is not even the leader of the party in Ogun State. He leads an NGO called Omo Ilu which engages in empowerment programmes in the state, mainly in the Ogun East Senatorial district.
“Baba Obasanjo still remains the undisputed and authentic leader of the PDP in the South-West. The fact that he tore his membership card is not tantamount to resignation from the party. An action he has not undertaken to date.
“Tearing of the membership card though a very negative action is undoubtedly a knee-jerk reaction to certain unacceptable or intolerable happenings within the party which can and will be redressed,” Okupe said.
However, Obasanjo, who spoke to PREMIUM TIMES on Tuesday over the telephone said Okupe “does not know what he was saying”.
The former president said he did not apply to join the PDP in 1998, rather, what was given to him was a registration card and his decision to tear the card meant he was no longer a member of the party.
He also said there was no way he could be referred to as a leader of the party in the South West even if he was still a member.
“I was a national leader of the party for eight years, so, how would I now reduce myself to becoming its leader in the South West,” he said.
Obasanjo also said Okupe should be ignored because he was one of those who campaigned for his his expulsion from the party.
*Premium Times
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