Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has asked the national
leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party to consider the pedigree of those
aspiring to lead the country in 2023 before picking its presidential candidate.
Obasanjo, who hosted the members of the National Working
Committee of the party at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library on
Thursday, said the party should also look at the way the president of the
United States of America emerges from the two dominant political parties.
The former chairman of the Board of Trustees of the party,
was visited by the members of the party’s National Working Committee led by its
Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus.
On February 16, 2015 and in a dramatic turn of events,
Obasanjo ended his 17-year relationship with the party by publicly tearing his
PDP membership card, but refused to join any other political party.
In July, he insisted that he was done with politics, denying
claims that he was planning to float a new political party.
A reliable source, who was part of the Thursday meeting ,
said the PDP leaders told the former President not to “siddon look” during this
critical time.”
The PDP source said, “We went to him and told him not to
‘siddon look’ as things are getting worse in the country. We also reminded him
that the PDP gave him the platform that made him the president and also served
as its chairman of BoT. Therefore, we asked him not to be unbothered about
happenings in the party and the polity.”
Though the former president was said to have reiterated his
earlier position of no interest in belonging to any political party for now, he
was also said to have counselled his guests on the need to settle their rifts
and focus on the task of producing a nationally-accepted presidential candidate
in 2023.
The source also disclosed that Obasanjo expressed
gratitude for the PDP chieftains’ visit, adding that they needed to think about
how to face the future as a party and concerned Nigerians.
“Obasanjo said we should go and study how presidents emerge
in America. He said leaders emerge through processes and that those leaders
must have seen, learnt, practised, and taken part in leadership processes. He
said in the US, the people followed a particular pattern.
“He said we should not pick anyone just because such a
person has money. He also said in America, they follow a particular pattern. He
said the presidential candidate in the US emerges either from the Congress,
from the Board of Governors, or he is an established businessman.
“He also told us about the way the prime minister of the
United Kingdom is elected. In all, he said someone who knows the country, the
system, is knowledgeable in foreign affairs, economy and security, among
others, should be allowed to lead the nation,” the source said.
It was also gathered that Obasanjo expressed his worry about
the way the country had been busy accruing debts by borrowing money all over
the world.
The former president was said to have informed his guests
that, while he was in office, governors always informed him about how much they
had been able to attract as foreign direct investments into their states.”
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