He wondered why some of them left the party and others lost hope as soon as the results of the 2019 presidential election were announced.
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has urged the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to purge itself of “bad eggs and hypocrites” who “lack the commitment” to help the opposition party reclaim its lost glory.
Obasanjo lamented that many of the PDP leaders still preoccupy themselves with what ministers to ”their pockets and stomachs".
He wondered why some of them left the party and others lost hope as soon as the results of the 2019 presidential election were announced.
The former President spoke on Sunday evening when South-West PDP leaders, led by Eddy Olafeso, the party’s National Vice-Chairman (South-West), visited him at his penthouse residence within the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL), Abeokuta, Ogun State.
Obasanjo told his guests that Nigeria’s situation demands a vibrant voice and opposition in PDP to engender a virile democracy.
The former president also bemoaned the failure of leadership in the country, saying Nigeria “can’t move forward if we continue the way we are”.
Speaking further at the meeting he urged PDP to purge itself of “hypocrites and bad eggs”, noting that the purge would put the party on a higher pedestal to scout for those he called “critical mass of committed people who would stand with the party come rain, come shine".
Obasanjo said: “I knew PDP would lose the election in 2015 because it was clear. And I knew PDP will need to be rebuilt after losing the election.
“You need what I call a critical mass of committed people and come rain, come shine, they are committed. With that, you can make Nigeria better.
“You see people’s beautiful faces but you don’t know what each person harbours inside of him. If you discover a bad egg, remove such a person. And if such a person has learnt his or her lessons, there can still be room to accommodate the person.
“Politically speaking, you can’t be my friend if you don’t buy into the Nigeria project. For me, till death, I will continue to push for a better Nigeria.
“I said if you compare the two of them, with what I know and all I have written about the incumbent, which they have decided to cover up, Atiku is better than the incumbent by far. That’s the point I am making and nobody is perfect."
In his remarks, Olafeso said the visit was to celebrate Obasanjo on his 82nd birthday, which he marked recently and to thank him for his support for the PDP presidential candidate in the just concluded elections.
Olafeso said: “You supported our presidential election and I know for sure that he won that election, even if the powers-that-be decided to write results for themselves in the North. It is certainly sure that it is the corner that you asked all of us to go that won that election and I know full well that God will take this thing back to our party.”
Present at the meeting were Kofoworola Bucknor-Akerele, former Lagos State Deputy Governor; Shuaibu Oyedokun, former PDP Deputy National Chairman and Eyitayo Jegede, Ondo State PDP governorship candidate in 2017, among others.