Obj,Anenih To Meet In Abeokuta Today Over PDP Crisis

As part of efforts to resolve the crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), former President Olusegun Obasanjo and the chairman of the party’s Board of Trustees, BoT, Chief Tony Anenih will meet today in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.

Anenih will lead a high powered delegation of the PDP BoT to the former president.

Also, Obasanjo will play host to some governors including Sule Lamido of Jigawa State and Ibrahim Shema of Katsina State.

Shema is leading the PDP governors’ committee on reconciliation in the South-West.

An impeccable source told National Mirror that the meeting was initially scheduled to hold last week but for the former president’s trip abroad.

A source said the two leaders will use today’s meeting to resolve their political differences, particularly on the chairmanship of the PDP BoT.

Even in the recent contest for the PDP BoT’s chairmanship, the former president was said to have backed the former national chairman of the party, Dr. Ahmadu Ali for the position.

Anenih was embittered that Obasanjo cut his tenure short when the former president took over the chairmanship of the influential and respected board in 2007.

“Since the development in 2007, the two leaders have not been in good terms. So, this meeting will afford them the opportunity to sort out their differences,” a source said.

Top on the agenda is the crisis rocking the South- West PDP which has led to the removal of associates of Obasanjo from their positions at national and zonal levels.

Some of the political associates of the former President that had been removed from their positions include the National Secretary, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola; national auditor, Chief Olabode Mustapha and National Vice-Chairman (South-West), Engr. Segun Oni.

Obasanjo was instrumental to their emergence at national and zonal levels. Hence, their removal was seen as spite on the former president.

Oyinlola, a former governor of Osun State, has accused the party’s national chairman, Dr. Bamanga Tukur of responsible for his travail.

Tukur also dissolved the South-West zonal executives at a time the leaders in the zone were meeting in Abuja to resolve the crisis rocking the party.

Obasanjo and his associates have not been happy with the development.

Efforts by the PDP governors to resolve the crisis in the party have not yielded the desired result. “This has informed the meeting of today. We believe that Obasanjo has the capacity to resolve the crisis in the party. That is why a high powered delegation is meeting with the former leader,” the source said.

It was learnt that today’s meeting will also dwell on the perceived marginalisation of the South-West in the Goodluck Jonathan administration.