How Bode George Tricked Me To His Reception, By OBJ

[TGD]

FORMER President Olusegun Obasanjo yesterday broke his silence on the raging crisis in the Ogun State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and his presence at last week's controversial reception for Chief Bode George, who returned home after completing his jail term at the Kiriki Prison in Lagos.

Obasanjo, who spoke with journalists at his Hilltop, Abeokuta residence, declared that he was tricked to attend the thanksgiving service in honour of Bode George.

He denied ever saying at the last week's PDP presidential rally in Lagos that the April polls will be a do-or-die affair for the party, insisting that the reporters who wrote the story were either being mischievous or uneducated.

Obasanjo assured that he would find amicable solution to the crisis rocking the Ogun PDP, disclosing that he had already directed the party's governorship candidate, Gen. Adetunji Olurin to setup a reconciliation committee towards that.

Bode George, who was former chairman of the Nigerian Port Authority (NPA) and chieftain of the PDP was jailed by a Lagos High Court for fraudulent practices but received a heroic welcome when he was released last week, an action many Nigerians have condemned.

But Obasanjo insisted yesterday that there was no way the PDP or himself, would celebrate criminality.

According to him, he was convinced that "Bode George did not comport himself properly in the task (port authority assignment) given to him.

"And when he was in prison, he was conducting himself like the Lord of the Manor. I called him and told him that the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo was the original founder of the Action Group but when he (Awo) was in Calabar, he was not running the Action Group and for Bode George to be in Kirikiri Prison and still run Lagos PDP was not the right thing."

Explaining what led him to the reception, the former President said:  "He (George) sent a passionate message to me from prison, urging me to attend a family church thanksgiving and I believe that whatever reason any family is giving thanks to in church or in mosque and he invites me and I am able to go there, whether it is for marriage, burial, housewarming, christening of a child, I will go."

Obasanjo said he was surprised that when he got to the church where the thanksgiving was holding "I found that the atmosphere was more than a family affair."

He continued: "I even took the opportunity to ask the state PDP chairman whether it was a party affair and he told me it was not. I don't see why PDP as a national party, as a party that is trying to form a national government and in 27 states in the federation would be celebrating criminality because whatever we may say, the reason Bode George went to prison should be condemned by everybody and I have condemned it because he did not go to prison for political offence.

"PDP as a party must dissociate itself from celebrating criminality," the former president stated.

On the Lagos PDP presidential campaign, Obasanjo said he merely sang a song in Yoruba dialect, which literally meant that if anyone stole his vote, he would resist but some reporters misinterpreted it.

On this, he said: "You people in the press, you must be deliberately ignorant, misinformed, uneducated or mischievous."

Commenting on the Ogun PDP crisis, he said: "I am the chairman of the PDP board of Trustees (BoT), so I am supposed to be the conscience of the party. Whatever be the rift, I am supposed to find amicable settlement. I have done it in other states, why not in my state"?

Disclosing that he had asked Olurin to set up a reconciliation team to unite the party members, he expressed optimism that the crisis would be resolved amicably.

Olurin, who was present at the briefing, said "the PDP is a family, there may be a little misunderstanding and we have to go to court for adjudication, the court adjudicated but as soon as possible, the party will come together and forge ahead."

And in Abuja, yesterday, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mahmud Yayale Ahmed, reiterated the present administration's commitment to holding credible polls in April.

Yayale spoke when he received the United States Under-Secretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs, Maria Otero, in his office.

According to him, free and fair elections are perquisites for good governance and sustainable democracy, where leaders are accountable to the people.

"We will ensure that free and fair elections are conducted in Nigeria so that everybody in the country as well as our international friends will be happy with the outcome," he said.

On the Nigeria-U.S. Bi-lateral Commission Agreement, Yayale said he was impressed by the level of implementation of the pact and assured that Nigeria will fully pursue the ideals of the accord.

In her response, Otero said she was impressed with the pre-election exercise of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), especially the just-concluded voters' registration.

Otero, who was accompanied by the American Ambassador to Nigeria, Terence McCulley, assured Nigerians of her country's continued support for the successful outing of INEC.

Source: How Bode George Tricked Me To His Reception, By OBJ