Former PDP chairman Audu Ogbe has narrated how he was forced to resign as PDP chairman in 2005 over his criticism of then-president Olusegun Obasanjo.
Audu Ogbe had criticized President Obasanjo’s handling of a crisis in Anambra state and as a result, drew the ire of the president who forced him to sign his resignation letter as the chairman of the PDP.
Narrating the event, he said “Because I challenged Obasanjo on some of his policies, all of a sudden, he rushed down to my house unannounced, requested for pounded yam. He came with all the fully armed security agents you can think of. My family was in a serious panicking mood.
“After the meal, he washed his hands and wrote a letter asking me to read and sign. As I was reading, I saw it was my Resignation Letter as the PDP Chairman written by Obasanjo himself, a drop of water fell from my eyes, as I looked up, the security guards moved closer, I requested to go inside and get a pen, Obasanjo instantly brought out a pen from his pocket, ‘this is pen sign it immediately.
“I signed and he told me “Chairman, you know that for what you said today, you shouldn’t be my Chairman again…” I remained dumb until he left.
“Thirty minutes later, he came again, I thought they wanted to kill me, I went to meet him outside, and he brought out the letter and said “You didn’t put the date there, oya write today’s date below your signature”. I did and he left. It was a traumatic night for me and my family.”
Later Years
Audu Ogbeh resigned from the PDP in 2005 claiming he resigned only to avoid conflict within the party, and due to a desire to return to farming.
He joined the APC in 2015 and was appointed Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development under President Muhammadu Buhari from 2015-2019.
