PDP Crisis: Presidency fingers Obasanjo
By Babatunde Ojetola
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has been fingered as the major brain behind the crisis rocking the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) despite what appears to be peace moves to resolve the lingering impasse as source close to the Presidency has told NigerianEcho.
PDP has been enmeshed in crisis of leadership in the past months but it took a dangerous dimension when the ruling party split on Saturday at its National Convention. Atiku Abubakar, the Vice President to Obasanjo had walked out of the convention alongside seven governors of the party citing high handedness and insincerity on the part of the Bamanga Tukur led executives of the party. The group went ahead to form a parallel PDP electing a former Chairman of the party, Abubakar Kawu Baraje as its Chairman and former Governor of Osun State, Olagunsoye Oyinlola, who was also a former Secretary of the party as the Secretary of this splinter group.
Ex-President Obasanjo had met with President Goodluck Jonathan behind closed doors to discuss how to resolve the crisis in the party, but forces loyal to 
Jonathan are not comfortable with his “so called peace moves” and have rejected such moves. They argued that the Governors who joined Atiku to form a splinter group are the “die hard” supporters of the former President. They wondered why someone who is fueling the crisis can now claim of finding solution to it. Governors Sule Lamido of Jigawa, Babangida Aliyu of Niger, Murtala Nyako of Adamawa, Kwankwaso of Kano, Aliyu Wamakko of Sokoto and Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers who are seen as loyalists of Obasanjo are in the new PDP as well as over 60 members of House of Representatives.
NigerianEcho sources revealed that the peace meeting called by the ex-President which is scheduled for tomorrow in Abuja will be most likely boycotted by the Jonathan group; except certain conditions are met by the convener of the parley. The source said the President, after going through some security reports on the crisis, became angry and he instructed his supporters to ignore Obasanjo and his men. He was reported to have told the Governors who are loyal to him not to lose sleep as he was on top of it.
“It is obvious that the Presidency is already closing in on those pulling the strings to divide the PDP ahead of the 2015 poll. “I think the Presidency may damn the consequences. The next few weeks might be for dirty politics. There is a likelihood of tit-for-tat politics.” the source concluded.
Resolution of the presidency seem to be yielding fruits as Alhaji Bamanga Tukur has finally found his voice by addressing a Press Conference where he said the splinter group shall be squarely dealt with in due course.
