Former President Olusegun Obasanjo insisted on Tuesday that
he remained a card-carrying member of the Peoples Democratic Party.
Obasanjo, who made this remark shortly after inaugurating some projects
of the Rivers State Government in various parts of the state, was reacting to
claims that his visit to Rivers State demonstrated his endorsement of the All
Progressives Congress.
Amaechi was among the governors elected on the platform of the PDP that
recently defected to the APC.
The former President said he had always been confronted with the
question of whether he was still a member of the PDP.
He said, “I say and I repeat. I was in London, the same question was
asked. I am a card-carrying member of the PDP. How else do you speak English?”
Obasanjo, who inaugurated some projects executed by the Governor Rotimi
Amaechi administration, decried the controversy surrounding the ongoing
monorail project in the state.
The ex-President pointed out that those criticising the monorail project
would appreciate it at its completion, adding that Rivers State had the
capacity to operate the project with the generation of 700 megawatts of
electricity.
Obasanjo said, “If any good thing you are doing has no opposition,
then try and take a second look at it. The Eiffel Tower, which is the landmark
and a reference point for the French today; when it was being built, some
people said the man who built it should be killed.
“It means all good things must have some opposition and that is why I
told the governor yesterday (Monday) that to thyself (yourself) and to thy
(your) God be true. Many people will not know what it is or how it is, but when
they come to know, they will say well done.
“I saw it. I must confess my ignorance, I didn’t know that it was
something of that extent. When I saw it, I said the only state that can do that
now with the deficit of power that we have is Rivers because the state
generates well over 700 megawatts of electricity and it can dedicate 20 or 25
megawatts to that monorail.”
On whether he wants the PDP to retain the Presidency in 2015, Obasanjo
said, “It is not a question for now.”
The former President, who was also at the Buguma Fish Farm, commended
Amaechi for his effort in establishing such projects.
Other projects inaugurated by Obasanjo on the second day of his visit to
the state were St. Andrews Model Primary School, Kelsey Harrison
Specialist Hospital, Olu Obasanjo Road in Port Harcourt and Buguma
Demonstration Fish Farm in Akuku-Toru Local Government Area.
Earlier in Buguma, Amaechi said he decided to leave the PDP for the APC
as a result of the state’s oil wells that were ceded to some neighbouring
states.
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