National Chairman of the PDP, Bamanga Tukur has begged ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo not to leave the party but to help salvage what is left of the party in the South West Zone ahead of the two governorship elections in Ekiti and Osun states as well as the 2015 elections.
Tukur expressed gratitude to the manner of approach by the president in presenting his grievances on issues in the PDP South-West, stressing that, “I thank you for your gesture and I pray that we shall all continue to dialogue and partner to move our party forward."
Tukur was replying a letter to him by Obasanjo dated January 7, 2014, in which the former president declared his temporary cessation to being a member of the PDP or participate in any of the party’s activities.
In the one-page letter, Obasanjo also lamented the handing over of the authority of the party in the South-West, and his home state, Ogun, to the chairman of the South West PDP Mobilisation and Organisation Committee, Buruji Kashamu, whom he declared unfit for any leadership post in the party.
According to the former president, Kasamu was a drug baron who has cases to answer in the United States of America.
But Tukur, in a conciliatory tone, said the PDP has pressing challenges in view of the forthcoming elections in Ekiti and Osun States as well as the overall general election in 2015; hence, pleading with Obasanjo not to abandon the party at this time that his supported is strongly needed.
Obasanjo is however insisting that he cannot sit down with a wanted "rogue".