The Ogun State governor, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, was on Saturday, booed at the presidential rally of the Peoples Democratic Party in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.
Daniel, who accompanied President Goodluck Jonathan to the MKO Abiola Stadium, venue of the rally, was heckled on the few occasions his name was mentioned by some speakers.
Some of the speakers even failed to acknowledge his presence.
The governor, who throughout the period at the rally, fiddled with his phone, received greater embarrassment as his name was not even listed among the speakers on the occasion.
Curiously, Daniel is the South-West campaign co-ordinator of President Jonathan.
Daniel had on Friday, begged former President Olusegun Obasanjo, apparently to douse the political crises in the state as well as to reconcile with the elderstateman.
The governor had at the reconciliation meeting that had Chief Afe Babalola (SAN), said, “I apologised to Baba Obasanjo and I will continue to apologise.”
The two PDP chieftains had been at loggerheads following the parallel congresses they held to elect the party’s standard-bearers for the forthcoming polls in the state.
While Daniel supported the former Managing Director of Gateway Holdings, Mr. Gboyega Isiaka, to be the governorship candidate, Obasanjo gave his blessings to a retired army general, Adetunji Olurin.
The crisis later worsened, resulting in the defection of Isiaka and his supporters to the Peoples Party of Nigeria.
However, as the Daniel humiliation continued on Saturday, Obasanjo rose in his defence, criticising those who heckled and booed at the governor.
Obasanjo said, “Today Otunba Gbenga Daniel is the governor of Ogun State; he must be accorded respect no matter whatever he has done. Don’t pay him in his own coin. I take serious objection to your booing him when his name is called.
“What you have done now is uncalled for, it does not matter what OGD might have done or is about to do. In Yorubaland, we must respect age and authority. He must be accorded the necessary respect.
“Until May 29, Governor Gbenga Daniel remains the governor of this state, he must be accorded the respect, dignity and honour that he deserves. If he does not give anyone that respect, we don’t have to pay him in his own coin. You must show that you are well bred. I take serious objection to you booing him here when his name is called and that should not be done.
“Until last week, nobody knows anybody could come out to campaign, I want to thank you Mr. Jonathan, because for a while, we were not sure whether Ogun State will be passed over in the series of campaign that you have been carrying out in the country because of threats and intimidation. But you did say, you will give Ogun state a whole day and you kept your word.
“So we are laughing last again and laughing the best. Mr. President we thank you for that. You arrived here by train. No other state has enjoyed that honour.”
He thanked the members of the PDP in the state for their steadfastness and commitment to the party, while assuring Jonathan of wining the state.
He expressed the determination of the South West region to be in the mainstream politics, adding that the region since 2003 had decided not to be in opposition party.
He maintained that the Ogun West Senatorial District had remained the only region that had never produced the governor in the state, adding that the search for a credible person to govern the state from the region led to the choice of the former military governor of Oyo State, Gen. Adetunji Olurin.
Jonathan commended the foresight of leaders from the state such as the late Premier of Western Nigeria, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, the ace Musician, Fela Anikulapo Kuti, and the late legal luminary, Rotimi Williams among others.
He said, “It is the vision of the former President that we should travel through all part of this country by rail. Without power, we can not develop especially the small and medium scale enterprises, that is why we have established the National Integrated Power Project and we have started some of the test running, some have already taken off and some are still under way.
“We have the confidence that by the middle of this year, our power generation would have been greatly stabilised. We are totally committed to the development of all human endeavours. We are looking into maritime industry and we are totally committed to creating jobs. We don’t want to continue importing petroleum products, but export them. We ensure that our refineries work and build new ones. We must add value to our gas and oil.”
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com