Governor of Ekiti State, Southwest, Nigeria, Ayodele Fayose,
has called on the Peoples Democratic Party to suspend former president Olusegun
Obasanjo with immediate effect for alleged anti-party activities. The Governor
made his stance known to journalists in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital on Friday
through his Special Assistant on Public Communications and News Media, Lere
Olayinka, advised the PDP to stop condoning indiscipline.
Ait Reports: The
Governor in reacting to the visit to Obasanjo by five governors of the Party
said the visit was unwarranted, unnecessary and uncalled for, stated that
“nobody should be treated as being bigger than the party.”
He called on the party’s leadership to set up a panel to
probe Obasanjo for anti-party activities and for castigating President Goodluck
Jonathan on many occasions in recent times as this would dissuade other members
from emulating him.
According to him, Obasanjo does not
appreciate and deserves no respect, adding that, “no amount of
mudslinging from him will stop President Goodluck Jonathan’s re-election.”
The governor said visiting the former president to plead
with him to rescind his decision not to participate in the party’s activities
was capable of encouraging other members of the party to openly disrespect the
office of the President.
He said, “A man who has refused to respect the office of the
President of Nigeria that he once occupied does not also deserve respect from
anyone.”
Fayose, who described Obasanjo as
one of the major problems of Nigeria, added that his open castigation of
Jonathan was unbecoming of someone who led the country for 11 years and “wasted
billions of naira in his attempt to perpetuate himself in office beyond the
constitutionally recognised two-term.
“Have you ever heard a former president of the United States
of America openly abusing a sitting president of the country?
“Does it mean that former USA president, Bill Clinton agrees
with all the policies of George W. Bush and the incumbent president, Barack
Obama?
Fayose alleged that Obasanjo was already a member of the
opposition All Progressives Congress and that he was pushing for one of his
loyalists to be the party’s vice presidential candidate.
He said, “Obasanjo is a man who can never be pleased. His
principle of life is; if it is not his way, it must not be another person’s
way.
“Even if President Jonathan gives Obasanjo his blood today, he (Obasanjo) cannot change because he is already
neckdeep in the APC agenda, with his eyes on the vice presidential ticket of
the party.
“Therefore, no amount of visits by PDP governors can make
him change his mind about President Jonathan, whom he hates not because he has
not performed, but because he (Jonathan) did not hand over his presidency to
him.”
Meanwhile, Five PDP Governors led by the Chairman, PDP
Governors Forum and Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Godswill Akpabio, on Thursday
reportedly held a closed-door meeting with Obasanjo in Hilltop residence in
Abeokuta, Ogun State.
It was learnt that the meeting discussed the former
president’s relationship with Jonathan and the economy of the nation.