Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has ruled out going back to the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and playing an active role again in partisan politics as against the purported media reports linking the former president to the party, having been spotted at PDP event held at Shehu Musa Yar’adua centre, Abuja.
It will be recalled that the former president, who was once Chairman of Board of Trustees, People’s Democratic Party (PDP), had on February 16, 2015, torn the membership card of the party at his Hilltop residence in Abeokuta, saying he was quitting PDP and partisan politics.
Obasanjo spoke in Abeokuta on Saturday through his Media Aide, Kehinde Akinyemi in response to the much-hyped reports, majorly on social media and some traditional media, declaring that anybody who believes the story, doesn’t know sex of his mother as going back to PDP will amount to feeding mice to a dead cat.
While blaming the report on irresponsible Nigerian brand of journalism, the ex-president explained that he attended event of the Commodities Association Stakeholders tagged, “Zero Hunger Nigeria” at the centre on Friday, saying the men of pen profession should always endeavour to throughly investigate any reports before publication or broadcast.
The former president said in a full text released for journalists in Abeokuta on Saturday and tagged, “Photonews story of Obasanjo “SPOTTED”at PDP event: Believe it and believe that your mother is not a woman – Obasanjo”, repeated that he had not only quit People’s Democratic Party, but partisan politics.
The text fully reads, “The attention of the former President, His Excellency, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo has been brought to the photonews story, which has gone viral on the social media on Friday, August 5, 2016 of his purported being “spotted” at a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) event at the Shehu Musa Yar’adua Centre, Abuja.
“While ordinarily his first reaction to the news was that those behind it targeted to get him annoyed and embarrassed him, his conclusion was that he has told the world that he has quit partisan politics and that is final. Anybody hoping to drag him back will fail like any man feeding mice to a dead cat.
“To him, “those who know me, know that I have publicly announced my quitting partisan politics and those who will believe the purported story will believe anybody who tells him that his or her mother is not a woman.
“If I quit a party when it was alive and seemingly united, how could I go back to a now divided, factionalized party gasping for breath?”
“To clear the minds of doubting Thomases and those behind the orchestrated news in circulation and particularly those who had been calling to ascertain what actually happened at the Shehu Musa Yar’adua centre is explained below.
“On the invitation of the Commodities Association Stakeholders, His Excellency, was invited to the “Zero Hunger Nigeria” event at the Centre. He arrived at about 10.00am and immediately moved to the meeting. The meeting commenced but few minutes into the session, his attention was drawn to the presence of some people walking up to where he was seated.
“At closer glance, he recognized them to be politicians and they exchanged pleasantries, saying they came to greet him and they walked out again from the meeting. The former President cracked joke with them calling them “invaders and gate crashers”.
“The programme ended and immediately he and his entourage headed back to Lagos. He was barely hours in Lagos when he started receiving calls from both far and near, wanting to find out about his presence at a political party programme in Abuja.
“The photo news in circulation, which claimed that he was spotted at a political party event is therefore mischievous. As a responsible journalist, he ought to have gone further to ascertain his actual destination in among the number of venues at the centre and not taking photograph of his alighting from his vehicle to read another meaning.
“Shocking also to note that the picture was actually taken while on his way out of the Centre after the programme he had attended had finished.
“This is height of irresponsible journalism, which the former President is calling for its investigation and sanction on anybody involved in order to serve as deterrent to others who may want to be used either by omission or commission to misinform the public on such sensitive issue.”
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