THE QUESTION: Was Obasanjo giving Jonathan a hint?

There you have it: former President Olusegun Obasanjo saying he is still a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), that he has never left the PDP and that he will never leave the PDP.

But there is a catch: as long as Buruji Kashamu is a leader of the party in the south-west, “I cannot be active.”

Obasanjo, who has been openly hobnobbing with the opponents of President Goodluck Jonathan and has hosted opposition figures at his home on several occasions, has given the strongest indication yet that he could be back campaigning for the PDP in the 2015 elections.

Nobody would have imagined this last year when he wrote a widely publicised “Before It Is Too Late” letter to Jonathan, accusing him of corruption and alleging that snipers were being trained for the elections.

He also said Jonathan was reneging on his promise that he would do only one term in office.

A long part of the letter was devoted to Kashamu, who is currently facing drug charges in the United States for an offence said to have been committed about 16 years ago.

It was very clear in the letter that Obasanjo did not like the prominence of Kashamu in the south-west PDP, who was allegedly recommended to Jonathan by Obasanjo.

The former president took exception to that insinuation.

He wrote: “Saying that I recommended a wanted criminal by UK and USA authorities to you or your aides to supplant legitimately elected PDP leader in South-West is not only unwise and crude but  also disingenuous.

“Nobody in his or her right senses will believe such a story and surely nobody in Ogun State or South-West zone will believe such nonsense. It is a clear indication of how unscrupulous and unethical the presidency can go to pursue your personal and political interest. Nothing else matters. What a pity!”

Those who read Obasanjo’s letter with a different pair of goggles were quick to point out that what really hurt him was how he had been relegated to the background in the scheme of south-west politics.

Obasanjo immediately started romancing with the All Progressives Congress (APC), which was suspected to have instigated, or leaked, the letter written by Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, then governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), alleging that $49.8 billion oil money was missing.

The role APC governors played in helping Sanusi become the emir of Kano heightened the suspicion that the letter and the publicity around it had political undertones, but the damage was more extensive with Obasanjo’s amplification of the allegation.

However, the PDP did not go to sleep, as the national chairman, Ahmed Mu’azu ─ a “political son” of Obasanjo ─ started working underground to curry the former president’s favour, pleading with him to come back to the party.

Last week in Abuja, when former Ogun governor, Gbenga Daniel, returned to the PDP and the warring factions were reconciled, Mu’azu pleaded openly for Obasanjo to “come back”.

In his response, Obasanjo seemed to have given only one precondition: get rid of Kashamu and you will see my face again.

He wrote: “There are, for me, issues of principle, morality, honour , integrity, commitment and character which are paramount.

“For instance, as a former President of Nigeria, the Chairman of West Africa Commission on Drug and a member of Global Commission on Drug, I cannot accept that the Zonal leader of my political Party and, worse still in my zone, will be an indicted drug baron wanted in America.  How do I explain that to friends outside Nigeria?”

That is the hint.

But Kashamu has hit back, recalling the days he and Obasanjo were the best of friends, despite the drugs case in America. In fact, he said Obasanjo got the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) to testify on his behalf in order to free him from the hook sometime in 2000/2001.

He hit Obasanjo once again, saying his presence in the party cannot win elections.

Kashamu missed a point though: you can argue that Obasanjo does not control voters, but nobody jokes with his influence.

In 2010/2011, he mobilised key political, traditional and religious leaders to help Jonathan become president. More so, he has the international clout that can colour perceptions of the president.

To say he has nothing to offer is not really correct. And since he has given Jonathan the hint on what needed to be done to get him back in the fold, the president will now have to choose between Kashamu and Obasanjo…