Two weeks after former President Olusegun Obasanjo tore his Peoples Democratic Party membership card, the party claimed on Tuesday that the card being held by the former President had expired. The card was signed by the party’s former Acting National Chairman, Alhaji Kawu Baraje who had since left the party for APC. Commenting on Obasanjo’s action, the National Secretary of the party, Dr. Wale Oladipo, said the card had been changed. He said the National Chairman of the party, Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu, and himself signed the current cards being used by the party members. He said:
“Baba (Obasanjo) is over 80 years and my mother is around Obasanjo’s age and when you reach that age, you do things that only you can explain. Secondly, you will see that Baba did not tear our card. He asked somebody ostensibly to do the tearing and I am assuring you that the card that was torn was not the current PDP card. The current PDP card is signed by Mu’azu and Oladipo. So, the card he tore was a Baraje card which we were going to destroy anyway. So, I think Baba started it.”
He added that Obasanjo might have left the party in order for it to have more followers.
“Lastly, Baba is a very intelligent man. When Baba was helping us, he knows that a lot of people could have complained that they could have voted for the PDP but Baba is there. You know when a big tree thrives in a big forest, smaller trees cannot grow. If that big tree leaves, 10 to 20 smaller trees will grow. In politics, one big tree has a vote while 20 small trees have 20 votes. If you do the arithmetic, I am a scientist, I know that head or tail, it is a win-win situation for the PDP.”