The national leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party on Wednesday tendered an unreserved apology to former President Olusegun Obasanjo. The party appealed to the former President to return and lead the party. Obasanjo, a former Chairman of the party’s Board of Trustees, has refused to identify with the party following series of disagreements he has with President Goodluck Jonathan and the running of the party.
The former President even as the chairman of BoT of the party, did not attend meetings of the various organs of the party, including its National Executive Committee.
He had criticised President Jonathan on many occasions and even written an open letter to him, in which he accused him of many atrocities – the way the President had handled the insecurity crisis in the North-East, his insistence to run for a second term (an action that was said to have negated an agreement he had with the party and the PDP governors which Obasanjo was privy to).
The National Chairman of the party, Alhaji Adamu Mu’Azu, begged Obasanjo to come back to the PDP. In his words:
“I want to join OGD, I want to join my dear senior brother and indeed all the teeming members here to very sincerely apologise to our leader, to our baba, my baba, General, President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo to forgive us. “We cannot continue. I know he has been very prayerful. In the Villa, I know he used to pray every morning. Very early, 5:30 to 6am, he is praying.
“And I know he keeps on praying all the time. As we say in our Lord’s Prayer: ‘Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who trespass against us’; Baba, you have to forgive us. I beg you in the name of the Almighty God, so that you too can be forgiven. We are your children. We are making mistakes, we have made mistakes, we have apologised.
“We will not agree even if you want to throw the baby away with the bath water, the baby will not go without you. “So, please baba, we apologise. Come and lead us. Even the President (Goodluck Jonathan) is waiting for you. Come and lead us. You are our leader, we appreciate you, we thank you for your leadership.
“We thank you for your courage. And we assure you that by the grace of God, we are all good boys and girls.”
The President of the Senate, Senator David Mark and erstwhile Ogun state governor, Gbenga Daniels had also appealed to the former President to forgive the party and its members.