On the outing that has been generally condemned, the ex-president said he was tricked into attending a church service for the released former chairman of the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA)
In his reaction to questions from journalists shortly after the lecture on why he attended the reception for George on the day he was released from prison, Obasanjo put up a defence. He said, “You got it wrong. I was not part of the celebration of Bode George’s release. And let’s get a few things right. When Bode George went to prison, the first thing that I did was to find out things from his lawyer, what really went wrong. What I found out eventually was that as far as I am concerned, Bode George did not conduct himself properly in the task that he was assigned.
On my attendance of the reception, he sent me a passionate message from prison urging me to attend a family church thanksgiving. I believe that for whatever any family is giving thanks in the church or in the mosque and invites me and I am able to go there, I will go. But when I got to the church, the atmosphere I found was more than a family affair. I even asked the state PDP chairman whether that was a PDP affair and he told me it was not. When I asked the state chairman, he said well, ‘you know Area Boys. They do hijack things like this. If it is for the Area Boys, leave it to the Area Boys and not to PDP.
I said so because I don’t see why PDP as a national party, as a party that is trying to form a government in Lagos State, as a party that formed government at the national level and in at least 27 states in the country would be celebrating criminality.
“Whatever we may say, the reason Bode went to prison should be condemned by everybody and I have condemned it but he did not go to prison for political offence. If he had been sent to prison for political offence, then he comes back and all his political associates may get round him and PDP must do something noble and wholesome but in this case, PDP as a party must dissociate itself from celebrating criminality.”
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