A former President of the Senate, Senator Ameh Ebute, has carpeted former President Olusegun Obasanjo over the latter’s claim that he would not want to be under the leadership of Chief Buruji Kashamu as the leader of the Peoples Democratic Party in the South-West.
Ebute, in an open letter addressed to the former President, copies of which were made available to journalists in Abuja on Monday, accused Obasanjo of double standard and hypocrisy.
He said Kashamu was a creation of Obasanjo, who he said, was used to cause trouble for the former Governor of Ogun State, Chief Gbenga Daniel, while serving as the governor of the state.
Ebute said that it was Kashamu Obasanjo used to obtain a court injunction against the PDP faction, led by Daniel then, before the national leadership of the party recognised the faction that he said was loyal to the former president.
The former senate president was reacting to Obasanjo’s response to the plea of forgiveness made to him by the national leadership of the party.
In his reply, Obasanjo had stated that one of the reasons why he was angry with the party was the fact that a certain drug baron was made the leader of the PDP in the South-West.
He had said, “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 have national and international standard to maintain and reputation to keep and sustain.”
But in his letter, Ebute said that without Obasanjo, maybe no one would have known Kashamu, adding that it would be wrong for the former president to turn around now and criticise Kashamu.
He said, “I wish to recall, Sir, that when the former Governor of Ogun State, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, seized the PDP structure from you in 2008/2009, it was this same ‘drug baron’ whom you aligned with to create a parallel party structure and institute a legal action against the party.
“It was this same man who secured the court judgment that eventually got your faction of the PDP recognised by the national leadership of the PDP, ahead of the 2011 general elections.
“Your daughter, then Senator Iyabo Obasanjo, worked closely with this same Kashamu to protect and defend your sagging and diminishing political interest and relevance in your local turf in the state.
“This was a period when Buruji’s frequent visits to your Abeokuta Hill Top residence were always greeted with celebrative feasting on bowls of pounded yam and egusi soup.
“The question is what were you telling your ‘foreign friends’ about this man then?”
He also faulted Obasanjo on his claim that, “Today, Nigeria needs all hands on deck to deal with our pressing problems of widening inequality, infrastructure, impunity, corruption, poverty and youth education, skills acquisition, empowerment and employment.” Ebute said that this accounts for part of his (Kashamu’s) anger against the PDP.
He, however, said that, with all sense of responsibility, this claim by Obasanjo appeared to be what he described as the biggest self-indictment by any Nigerian leader.
SOURCE: OSUN DEFENDER
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