Lamido, Mu’azu meet over Obasanjo

The Jigawa State Governor, Sule Lamido and the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu, met in Abuja on Wednesday on how to convince former President Olusegun Obasanjo to return to the party. Investigations by our correspondent in Abuja on Thursday indicated that the meeting took place at the Abuja residence of Mu’azu. The meeting, it was learnt, was at the instance of Mu’azu, who was said to be worried about the political implications of Obasanjo’s decision to dump the PDP. Obasanjo, while announcing his decision to leave the party where he was once its Chairman of Board of Trustees, on Monday, also ordered that his membership card be torn to shreds. At the meeting between the governor and the national chairman of the party, it was learnt that Mu’azu expressed sadness over the turn of events in the party, which has been ruling since the country returned to democratic rule in 1999. One of the aides of the chairman, who was at the meeting, said the former governor of Bauchi State was “visibly sad that the once-cohesive party” was becoming a joke in the country. It was learnt that at the meeting, the national chairman of the party sought the opinion of Lamido on how to approach the tirade being thrown by the former President at the party and its Presidential candidate, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan. The chairman’s aide, who spoke with our correspondent on the condition of anonymity, said that the governor warned the party against trading accusations with the former President. Lamido is considered as one of the governors very close to the former President. The chairman’s said, “The governor warned the party against fighting the former President. He also asked Mu’azu to warn some members of the party, including a governor from the southern part of the country to stop abusing the former President. “He told the chairman that the party and the President do not have the capacity to fight the President, saying that before the former President would open his mouth to say a word, he has his facts. “Besides, he added that there are other sympathisers of the former President in the party and that any attempt to rubbish him (Obasanjo)would make many of them uncomfortable.” But the party has said it would not relent in its desire to have the former President return to its fold. The National Publicity Secretary of the party, Olisa Metuh, who spoke with our correspondent in Abuja on Thursday, said that having led the party to victories in the past, it would be wrong for the party to let its former chairman of Board of Trustees leave like that.