Chief Buruji Kashamu, the man for whom Obasanjo has threatened to withdraw his involvement with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has replied the accusations against him, describing the former president as a hypocrite bemoaning his loss of relevance in the south-west zone.
In a letter dated 7th January 2014 and copied President Goodluck Jonathan, Obasanjo had expressed frustration at the running of the PDP in the zone, particularly with the appointment of Buruji Kashamu, “a criminal wanted abroad”, as Coordinator of the zone.
But responding in a statement, Kashamu, who claimed he is only the chairman of the Organisation and Mobilisation Committee of the party in the zone, said Obasanjo has been engaging him in a wicked campaign of calumny and blackmail due to his political irrelevance to Ogun State and the South West.
“Ordinarily, I would not have responded to his latest cocktail of lies, having sufficiently addressed the same issue in my response to his letter to the president only a few weeks ago. However, since he has shown that he is too embittered to be assuaged by that response, I am constrained to do another.
“First, it is now clear to all and sundry that why I have become the target of Obasanjo’s wicked campaign of calumny and blackmail is his perceived loss of political relevance in Ogun State and the South West.
“In his 18-page satanic letter to President Goodluck Jonathan, I was the other person — indeed the only one (after the president) — that he singled out for his venomous attack. But if the truth be told, I am not the architect of whatever political woes that he is suffering today. Like David, I am just a tool in the hands of the almighty Allah Subhana wa tala. I am too small to confront a Goliath like him but for the almighty Allah who is the supporter of the suppressed and oppressed”.
Kashamu added that in his usual hypocritical manner, Obasanjo talked about inability to work with me because of his principles and decency. However, he wondered where these principles were when he used him to fight Gbenga Daniel, when he took the party structure from Daniel and handed it to Obasanjo, when Obasanjo brought Gen. Adetunji Olurin to him and asked him to roll his structure behind Olurin’s governorship ambition, when Obasanjo introduced him to South West PDP leaders like Engr. Segun Oni, Navy Capt. Caleb Olubolade (rtd) and a host of others.
“Where was his discipline when he hosted me several times in his Hilltop mansion, taking me into his bedroom and innermost recesses? Where was his decency when he accepted donations from me to his church and other concerns? Where was his gumption when he mounted the rostrum to sing my praises, praying for me as he did in May 2010 during a reception for the former Minister of Commerce and Industry, Senator Jubril Martins-Kuye? I can go on and on!” Kashamu queried on.
“Let me state from the outset that contrary to Obasanjo’s claim, I am not the leader of the party in the South West. I am just one of the party’s foot soldiers in the zone and it is in that capacity that I am made the chairman of the Organisation and Mobilisation Committee for the party in the zone.
“It is indeed preposterous for anyone to call me the leader of the party in a zone that parades political juggernauts like Chief Olabode George, Alhaji Shuaibu Oyedokun, Senator Lekan Balogun, Senator Iyiola Omisore, Senator Teslim Folarin, Alhaji Yekeen Adeojo, Senator Clement Awoyelu, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, Senator Bode Olajumoke and a host of others. All these leaders know me and can attest to the fact that I defer to them even when we disagree a times.
He also denied being wanted for any crime, abroad, saying, “Now, on the issue of my so-called indictment in the United States, I wish to state for the umpteenth time that there is NO request for my extradition for any offence whatsoever. I recall that in my earlier response to him, I have challenged him to produce the request for extradition, if there is any.
“Indeed, contrary to his lies that I am wanted in the United States for some offences, the purported and over-flogged case is that of mistaken identity, for which I had been tried and discharged after my innocence was established by the British courts. I am already in court in the US asking that the earlier accusation (NOT CONVICTION) against me be quashed. That process is ongoing”.