ABEOKUTA — Ahead of the 2023 general elections, former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo on Saturday restated his commitment to stay off the party politics, saying nothing can make his return to party politics.
Addressing newsmen shortly after a closed-door meeting with members of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Abeokuta, Obasanjo stated that he was contented to remain as an elder statesman.
He explained that in spite of his retirement from party politics, he could not retire from his commitment to the welfare of the people.
“I want to emphasise that I am no longer in partisan politics and there is nothing that will bring me back to partisan politics.
“I will always be interested in what is good for Nigeria and anybody who wants to have my advice, I will distinctively give it in the best interest of Nigeria and in the best interest of Africa.
“This is why I have the type of responsibility that I now have in the horn of Africa, which is not an easy thing,” the former president said.
“I have been with the party right from inception.
“Whatever I do in my life because I became president on the platform of PDP, the party will continue to be part of history of my life.
“I must, however, add that the day my ward decided to tear my PDP card, was the day I ceased to be a member of PDP. And that day, I vowed that I will no longer be a member of any political party.
“I will remain a statesman in Nigeria, West Africa, Africa and indeed in the world at large.
“Though, I have retired from partisan politics, but I cannot retire from the welfare and wellbeing of the people, whether in my own community, in my own state, in my own country, anywhere in Africa or indeed anywhere in the world,” he said.
Obasanjo, however, said that PDP would continue to be part of his life history because he attained unto the position of the president of the country on the platform of the party.
The former President said that the PDP National Chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, has a huge responsibility in restoring the lost glory of the party, praying that God would grant him the wisdom to succeed.
In his remarksAyu said he considered it appropriate to visit Obasanjo with the party chieftains so that they could learn from his wealth of experiences.
