PDP Jittery as Obasanjo Meets Yoruba Women Today

  Former President Olusegun Obasanjo

Ademola Babalola in Ibadanâ
Hundreds of Yoruba women to be led by all the “Iyalodes” from across the six states of the South-west will converge on the Hill Top residence of former President Olusegun Obasanjo this Monday in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.

Indications emerged yesterday that the meeting conveyed under the auspices of the former president with all the Iyalodes and concerned women from the zone was not unconnected with next month’s general election.

Obasanjo has been having a running battle with the incumbent President, Goodluck Jonathan over his second term ambition. Reports said the meeting is already creating unease within the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the zone

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Sources said it is scheduled for the Obasanjo’s residence in Abeokuta this morning.

According to the notice of meeting which was sent out by the Iyalode of Egba, Alaba Lawson and obtained by our reporter, the women delegates “are to assemble at Commerce House, Igbehin Hills, near Ibara Police Station, Abeokuta by 9a.m. to go in convoy to baba’s house for the 10a.m. appointment.”

Though, the objective of the meeting was not known, sources closed to the PDP in the zone said the party was not comfortable with such parley at this crucial moment when election was very much around the corner.

The source maintained that “as much as we are not privy to the meeting’s agenda, we are convinced that it cannot be anything than political and since the body language of baba as far as PDP is concerned is against our plan to have President Jonathan back in office, we are worried.

“It is no more a secret that the former president is more disposed into the opposition taking over the power from the current president and our party, though he is still a member of the PDP, so, we have to monitor his moves, especially as elections draw nearer in order not to be caught unaware”, the source said.

Meanwhile, it was gathered that some of the women invited to the meeting had kicked against it, alleging that such meeting could not have been called without mobilisation, threatening not to honour the invitation without firm promise of ‘settlement’ before leaving Abeokuta.

On the other hand, some of the women leaders were said to have been reaching out to the politicians, especially the PDP members for sponsorship of the trip, a situation that the party found curious.

A source close to the party noted that it would be wrong for any of our members to be sponsoring such meeting when we know that in actual fact what would be discussed there would be against our interest.