Obasanjo: Why I’ve been rejecting Gani Adams’ request to visit me

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo says both in and outside government, he has rejected the request of Gani Adams, Aaare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland, to visit him.

Obasanjo and Adams fell out during the first term of the ex-president.

The O’dua Peoples Congress (OPC) which Adams coordinated was blamed for widespread violence in  Lagos at the time.

Adams was eventually arrested by the police while OPC was outlawed.

Reacting to reports that he reconciled and settled a 15-year-old rift with Adams in Lagos, Obasanjo said he bore no grudge against Adams.

The duo were reported to have met at the residence of Ayo Adebanjo. a leader of Afenifere, the a south-west socio-cultural group.

Other leaders of the group were also said to be in attendance.

But in a statement which Kehinde Akinyemi, his media aide, issued on his behalf, Obasanjo said the visit to Adebanjo was not for reconciliation.

“It is true that I pai­d a personal visit to­ Chief Ayo Adebanjo a­t his residence in Le­kki Phase 1 on Decemb­er 2, 2020 and I met ­Gani Adams there,” Obasanjo was quoted to have said.

“I have no quarrel wit­h Gani Adams, but for­ his past way of life­ which was not in acc­ord with my standards­ and principles. I h­ave in the past, both­ in government and ou­t of government, refused to grant Gani’s r­equest to visit me.

“If at all anybody fee­ls I have a quarrel w­ith him or her that n­eeds reconciliation, ­such reconciliation w­ill, no doubt, take p­lace in my residence ­in Abeokuta only.”