Chief Olusegun Obasanjo claims he is a founding member of the Peoples Democratic Party and the first major beneficiary of the party as former president

This is obvious from the drama that played out in the evening of Thursday, August 5 at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua centre where coincidence brought the Senator Ahmed Makarfi-led caretaker committee to the former president, who was attending a meeting of farmers.

The chance meeting which lasted for only six minutes created the impression that the party, hardly hit and looking to start afresh, may be m

Obasanjo ruled Nigeria for eight years under the platform of the party.

He later emerged the party’s board of trustees chairman following an amendment to its constitution.

But Obasanjo left the party in anger after a quarrel between him and his estranged god-son and immediate past president of the country, Goodluck Jonathan, got into the public sphere.

He also publicly tore his party membership card because Buruji Kashamu, now a senator, was made the leader of the southwest zone of the party.

Obasanjo felt it was an insult for a man reportedly wanted internationally for alleged drug-related offences to be his party leader.

He also thereafter began to expose alleged fraud in the Jonathan government while churning out information to show Jonathan as incompetent and subtly declared support for President Muhammadu Buhari, who was then candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the election.

aking overtures at the former presiden

At the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua centre, Leadership reports that Makarfi led his committee members to meet Obasanjo before they went for the inauguration of the party’s national convention committee for the party’s convention scheduled for August 17 in Porthacourt, Rivers state.

The Makarfi committee members were led by a female staff of the foundation to Obasanjo, though it is not clear what was discussed.

The report said about an hour after the end of the inauguration, Obasanjo came out of the farmers’ meeting into his waiting car.

Efforts to reach the spokesperson of the PDP caretaker committee, Prince Dayo Adeyeye, on the chance meeting was not successful.

Meanwhile, chairman of the party’s board of trustees, Senator Walid Jubrin, has warned that the party is not for sale.