By Henry Umoru
ABUJA—The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP has distanced itself from the inclinations of former President Olusegun Obasanjo on the continuance of Alhaji Aminu Tambuwal as Speaker of the House of Representatives and membership of the party of former Governor of Ogun State, Otunba Gbenga Daniel.

The acting national chairman of the party Alhaji Abubakar Kawu Baraje at a media parley in Abuja yesterday also disclosed plans to recruit half of the Nigerian population into its fold before the end of the party’s ongoing registration and revalidation exercise.

The party’s rebuff of Obasanjo, the chairman of the PDP’s Board of Trustees came in the wake of the continuing campaign by the former President to restore the party’s zoning pattern which was distorted by the election of Tambuwal as Speaker and Rep. Emeka Ihedioha as deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives last June.

Obasanjo had at a meeting of the BOT few weeks ago demanded the resignation, in two years, of the duo as a way of restoring the zoning configuration of the party. He followed up his demand last weekend at the Southwest Strategic Zonal meeting in Abeokuta where he called on Tambuwal who is from the Northwest zone to leave the office which he said was wrongly usurped from the Southwest.

Olusegun Obasanjo and Speaker Aminu Tambuwal

Obasanjo at the same meeting had also in reference to alleged moves to restore party recognition to Daniel, the immediate past Governor of Ogun State and some other former PDP chieftains who worked against the PDP in the last election, said that he could not stay in the same party with such fellows.

But asked to respond to the issues canvassed by Obasanjo at his maiden media parley yesterday, Baraje said that the election of Tambuwal was a matter that the party has come to accept following the profuse apologies rendered by the duo of Tambuwal and Ihedioha.

He said:

“We have put June 6 aberration behind us as all the key actors acknowledged their fault and apologized to PDP and to Nigerians. When a child accepts his fault you do not give them more punishment than it is due to them and they have served their punishment through the apology.”

He also punctured Obasanjo’s assertions that some rebellious party members who worked against the party should not be allowed to return to the fold.

Noting that all Nigerians of 18 years and above who fulfill the criteria for membership were free to join, including those that defected to other parties before or after last elections, he said:

“The exercise is open to all members including those that left the party. For the returnees the rules are there and we have not changed them, we have not banned or expelled anyone. Before anyone is expelled or sanctioned we follow the rules and due process.

“The ongoing membership exercise is open to all Nigerians from 18 years and above who fulfill the criteria for membership of our Party. It is also an opportunity for current members to revalidate and renew their membership of our great Party. It is not intended to witch-hunt or exclude anybody from our party.

“It is also borne out of the need to update our membership register and provide a level playing field for all those who wish to utilize the vast opportunities and advantages that the PDP offers to our members, supporters and admirers.

The Acting National Chairman who warned party executives at all levels that the exercise was not designed for people to be de-registered or an opportunity for anyone to whimsically deny any Nigerian who is willing and ready to join our Party.

“Let me warn very strongly that the National Working Committee shall take decisive actions against any member of the Executive Committees or group of individuals at any level found to be engaged in unwholesome activities during this registration and membership revalidation exercise.

“The registration project is conceived in the all-inclusive philosophy of the PDP and must be insulated from selfish interests and unwarranted controversies by uninformed and overzealous persons who may try to create unnecessary obstacles to those who genuinely want to be part of our party,” he added.

The last revalidation of membership by the party in 2005 was widely alleged to have been used to deny party membership to those perceived as antagonists of Obasanjo who was the President at that time.

The exercise which commenced on September 1st and expected to end on December 7, 2011 he disclosed is targeting the registration of 40 million new members to join what he claimed to be the present 30 million members of the party. That would put the total membership of the party at 70 million about half of Nigeria’s estimated population of 140 million.