Bode George's Release Fanfare: I Was Lured To Attend -Obasanjo

Source: THEWILL. - thewillnigeria.com

SAN FRANCISCO, March 04, (THEWILL) – Former President Olusegun Aremu Obasanjo today in Abeokuta, Ogun State said he was lured into attending the highly criticized fanfare that followed the release from prison of former chairman of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Chief Bode George last weekend.

Obasanjo, who turns 74 on Saturday, told journalists that he attended the ceremony in error.

In a detailed explanation of how he became apart of the fanfare, Obasanjo said: “He sent a passionate message to me from prison, urging me to attend a family church thanksgiving and I believe that whatever reason any family is giving thanks to in church or in mosque and he invites me and I am able to go there, whether it is for marriage, burial, housewarming, christening of a child, I will go.

“When I got to the church, the atmosphere I found was more than a family affair. And I even took the opportunity to ask the state PDP Chairman if it was ‘PDP affair?’ And he told me it was not a PDP affair,” Obasanjo stated.

“I don’t see why PDP as a national party, as a party that is trying to form a national government and in 27 states in the federation would be celebrating criminality because whatever we may say, the reason Bode George went to prison should be condemned by everybody and I have condemned it because he did not go to prison for political offence.

“When he was in prison, he was conducting himself like the Lord of the Manor. I called him and told him that the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo was the original founder of the Action Group but when he Awo was in Calabar, he was not running the Action Group and for Bode George to be in Kirikiri Prison and still run Lagos PDP was not the right thing.”

Obasanjo said he has condemned the fanfare and cautioned the PDP against celebrating criminality.

Speaking on the crisis rocking the state chapter of the party, Obasanjo said as leader of the party, he would unite the warring factions.