"Its performance not Party" as Obasanjo Endorses Amosun

 Gov. Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State yesterday got a massive thumbs-up from former  President Olusegun Obasanjo for his performance in office and threw his weight behind the governor for re-election,next month.

Chief Obasanjo said that performance  as against party loyalty should be the overriding factor for the electorate in voting for candidates in the elections.

The former President, told  Igbo leaders from Lagos and Ogun states  who was in is residence in Abeokuta that   "though he does not belong to the same party as Amosun, he can not deny that the governor’s  performance in the last four years has been sterling".

The Igbo  delegation led Chief Austine Nkeze was  in Obasanjo’s home to  seek his direction on the  elections.

Obasanjo  told them  and other non – indigenes in  the state  to return Amosun to office so that  his infrastructural and the   urban renewal projects   could be sustained.

“In 2011, we were not together. We were together before and I did campaign against him. See what he has been able to do in the last three and a half years in the state. I cannot sacrifice performance for party.

“I never dreamt  of having a bridge on a dry land in Ogun State in my life time. Yes, we have Ogun River, where there is a bridge. Go to Ijebu, Sagamu, Otta, what am I seeing, bridges, not even one, two, three.

“So, my people, I am not talking about other elections. I have come to tell you that in order to appreciate what this personality has been able to do in the last three and half years, let us give him our votes.

“What happened in 2011 is politics, and we can all see the difference between politics and personality,” Obasanjo said.

Two weeks ago,he told the presidential candidate of the National Conscience Party, Dr. Martins Onovo, who visited him in Abeokuta that party affiliation is secondary to his commitment to Nigeria’s development.

 “My first pre-occupation is what is best for Nigeria. Nigeria first, party second and any other thing, third. I can sacrifice anything in the interest of Nigeria and I can sacrifice my own life for Nigeria,”  he said on that occassion.

“I can’t sacrifice my life for any party’s interest, but I’ll sacrifice my life in the interest of Nigeria.

 “Let me make my own position clear, I am a card-carrying member of the PDP because that is the party on which platform I became the President of this country.

“If what you’re trying to do is in the best interest of Nigeria and Nigerians accept and vote for you, who am I not to accept you as President of Nigeria. I will. But in this your campaign, try to inform, woo and  convince the electorate, but whatever may be the outcome of the election after you have done all that, once the election is free and fair and undisturbed, uninterrupted, then you have to accept the verdict of the people.”

He told Jonathan during a peace meeting in Abeokuta  that Jonathan had exhausted his goodwill with him.

The former president has been a virulent critic of the Jonathan administration, which he accused of embracing corruption and wrecking  the anti-insurgency battle.

Jonathan replied, slamming some “elder statesmen who talk like motor park touts”. He, however, did not mention Obasanjo.