Obasanjo still my father, says Kashamu

Buruji Kashamu, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who has had a long-running battle with former president Olusegun Obasanjo, says the former president remains his father.

Kashamu, who won the senatorial seat of the Ogun east senatorial district during the parliamentary poll, has a pending N20billion libel suit against Obasanjo.

He recently accused the former president of plotting to extradite him to the United States on trumped-up charges of drug offence.

However, reacting to the criticism he got for praising Bola Tinubu as his mentor after the overwhelming performance of the All Progressives Congress (APC) at the general election, Kashamu said he still holds the former president in high esteem.

“Baba Obasanjo remains my father and leader, just as I am his son and follower,” he said in a statement issued on Tuesday.

“It is on record that no Nigerian politician has taken former president Olusegun Obasanjo to the cleaners even as a sitting president like Asiwaju Tinubu did. Yet, Chief Obasanjo forgave him.

“As a true party man, I campaigned vigorously for my party and its candidates. Now, the elections are over, and as a true sportsman, I thought I should congratulate those who won.

“For me, it is high time politicians and leaders rose above petty issues and raised the bar in constitutional democracy. We should not just be democrats in words but also in deeds. We should play politics without bitterness.”

Kashamu further said rather than take his commendation in good light, Tinubu was directing veiled criticism at him.

“My attention has been drawn to Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s reaction to the innocuous congratulatory messages that I sent to him and other leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

“First, I must say that I doubt if the statement was approved by him. However, if it was, I must state that I am taken aback by the unwarranted attacks against me as if we were still campaigning. It is unbecoming of someone of his stature and calibre.

“He accused me of purchasing my election with money, the appropriate forum to prove that is the election petitions tribunal and not the pages of newspaper.

“On the US case, I wish to state for the umpteenth time that the United States, as the bastion of democracy and the rule of law, would not lend itself to any form of abuse of the fundamental human rights of an innocent soul, especially one that has been arrested, tried and freed by its most trusted ally – the United Kingdom.

“I am not running from any trial. All I have asked is for the relevant parties to follow due process – if they believe that I yet have a case to answer.

“I believe in the supremacy of the almighty Allah who frustrates the signs of liars and makes fools of diviners, who turns wise men back and makes their knowledge foolish. He is the ultimate decider of the fate of all mortals. When He says yes, no man can say no and when He says no, no man can say yes!”