While the former president may have claimed resignation from political activities, he remains active in the mobilisation of people.
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo is reportedly working on the establishment of a new political party aimed at accommodating aggrieved members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
According to Vanguard, a source revealed that Obasanjo is convinced that the two major political parties are likely to be embroiled in serious legal and political conflicts that would leave them in a bad shape to be able to contest and win the forthcoming elections and form a national government.
The source disclosed that while the former president may have claimed resignation from political activities, he remains active in the mobilisation of people particularly in determining who wins major offices in the 2023 elections.
The source said: “Even as the name for the hybrid party has not been made public as we speak, Baba (Obasanjo) is seriously mobilising his keen loyalists and die-hard supporters across the country to actualise his dream of installing a government that would be answerable to him."
The source also noted that Obasanjo is hoping to harvest many key members of the two major political parties into his new party as a result of the forthcoming preparations for 2023.
The source said Obasanjo is increasingly becoming worried over what he described as the overbearing influence of a South-South governor in the PDP and his simmering altercation with the National Chairman of the party, Prince Uche Secondus.
“Baba is afraid of the growing personalisation of the party by one man and the growing rancour with other stakeholders of the PDP and he does not want to put all his eggs into the troubled ship,” the source added.
“In fact, it was for these reasons that the former President has been moving round and consulting with those he believes can help in realising the new political thinking."
The source said Obasanjo has already scheduled a strategic meeting with his loyalists and associates to assess the progress made by the new group for Tuesday, July 13.
It is expected that three former governors of Osun, Jigawa and Kwara states and other coordinators drawn from across the six zones of the country, as well as the structure of the fledgling political movement, would be unveiled.
“The three former governors are to subtly coordinate the activities of the hybrid party in the North-West, North-Central and South-west zones, while efforts are being made to name more coordinators for the remaining areas of the country,” the source added.