Obasanjo still insists Buruji Kashamu is a drug baron wanted in US, gives reasons for being aloof in PDP affairs

L-R: Obasanjo and Buruji

'' I cannot accept that the Zonal leader of my political Party and, worse still in my zone, will be an indicted drug baron wanted in America.''
 Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has said that there is no way he will accept a man with alleged question mark on his reputation as the zonal leader of the Peoples Democratic Party in the South West.
He said this while reacting to last Wednesday’s apologies from the National Chairman of PDP, Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu; Senate President, David Mark and Otunba Gbenga Daniel, when Daniel formally returned to the party in Abuja, begging the former president to return and lead them in PDP.

Obasanjo said in a statement he issued Sunday evening in Abeokuta that “during last week, when I was in South Africa as the Chairman of AU Commission of Inquiry on South Sudan and while with my fellow Commissioners, we were deliberating on how to help that new country out of its problem of security and violence, I received avalanche of news and cacophony of appeals and pleadings from some quarters of PDP leadership.
“There are misunderstandings and misrepresentations, which some of those appeals and pleas manifested; hence this explanation from me.”
The statement added: “Talking of inviting me back to PDP is wrong and it is a great misrepresentation as I have never left PDP and I will never leave PDP. I have said it before and I will say it again, I rose to become the President of Nigeria on the platform of PDP and for that reason alone, I will remain a card-carrying and ward-active member of PDP for as long as I have to be a political party member.
“Secondly, nobody has personally offended me as a result of my membership of PDP. If, however, anybody or group feels offended by my continued membership, I will offer an unreserved apology but continue to remain in the party.
“I have had occasions to say to the President, the Senate President and the Party Chairman separately that I have no quarrel with any individual or group in the party. There are, for me, issues of principle, morality, honour , integrity, commitment and character which are paramount.
“For instance, as a former President of Nigeria, the Chairman of West Africa Commission on Drug and a member of Global Commission on Drug, I cannot accept that the Zonal leader of my political Party and, worse still in my zone, will be an indicted drug baron wanted in America.
“How do I explain that to friends outside Nigeria? This is only one of the many issues that I have pointed and still pointing out.
“I must hasten to thank the President, the Senate President and the Chairman of PDP with whom, at their instances, these issues have been discussed and laid to rest. My interest and commitment to Nigeria go beyond partisan politics.
“I beg and appeal to those who are begging me to realize that we must put Nigeria’s interest above politics – party or personal – otherwise, we will all be judged at the bar of history if not the bar of current affairs. In addition, we must preserve, sustain and deepen democracy and democratic practices.”
Reacting to Obasanjo’s diatribe, chieftain of the PDP in the South West, Prince Buruj Kashamu, in a statement yesterday, said he has become the target of Obasanjo’s wicked campaign of calumny and blackmail because of his perceived loss of political relevance in Ogun State and the South West. According to him: “He (Obasanjo) is against the second term ambition of President Goodluck Jonathan and he had wanted to use the erstwhile National Secretary, Olagunsoye Oyinlola; the former National Auditor, Bode Mustapha and the ex-National Vice- Chairman, Segun Oni, to thwart Mr. President’s re-election.
“ Contrary to Obasanjo’s claim, I am just one of the leaders of the party in the South West. I am one of the party’s foot soldiers in the zone and it is in that capacity that I am made the Chairman of the Organisation and Mobilisation Committee for the South West PDP. The party in the zone has not been handed over to anyone but to its relevant organs and structures. It is indeed preposterous for anyone to call me the leader of the party in a zone that parades political juggernauts like Governor-Elect Ayo Fayose, Chief Olabode George, Alhaji Shuaibu Oyedokun, Chief Adebayo Alao-Akala, Senator Lekan Balogun, Senator Iyiola Omisore, Senator Teslim Folarin, Alhaji Yekeen Adeojo, Senator Clement Awoyelu, Senator Bode Olajumoke and a host of others, “ he said.
Daily Sun