Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has justified the appointment of the two ministers from Ogun State by President Goodluck Jonathan, adding that the choice was borne out of hardwork and professionalism.
Obasanjo, who was addressing members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) across the 20 local government areas of Ogun State said they were carefully chosen in line with Jonathan’s love for meritocracy over mediocrity.

According to him, President Jonathan had told the stakeholders that he would prefer to work with technocrats and not those who would have to undergo any training on the job. He added that hence the two ministerial nominees finally picked from Ogun were on merit as against lobby.
Obasanjo’s position was coming against the backdrop of rumours that surrounded the dropping of the gubernatorial candidate of the party in the state, Chief Adetunji Olurin of being appointed as a minister by President Jonathan.

The non-appointment of Olurin as a minister led to the rumour that there were strain relationship between Obasanjo and President Jonathan.
Obasanjo, who addressed party faithful in the presence of the Minister for Agriculture, Mr. Akinwunmi Adesina, said the choice was the best for the state.
“They are two distinguished good representatives of the state. Akinwunmi Adesina was the Nigerian Ambassador to South Africa during my regime, while that of the Foreign Affairs, Femi Ashiru, is also a personality that is well known to the world,” he said

He adds: “I know them very well and I am happy when the President picked the two of them to work with. They are professionals who know their job very well and will not disappoint the state. It is this criterion that placed them at a higher advantage over other nominees for the same jobs,’ he stated. Commenting on the abysmal performance of the party in the state during the last elections, the former president said it was as a result of being in a wrong alliance with some members who felt they could pocket the party machinery for their self aggrandizement.

He also solicited the understanding of party supporters who might have felt that their candidate ought to be picked for the job but were not, adding that the party hierarchy would henceforth do everything possible to return the party to its lost glory. At the end of the conference, which was attended by party members across the state, it resolved that members of the party who defected to other political parties during the last general election and wishes to rejoin should go back to their wards for registration. The party also endorsed the party’s South-west ad-hoc committee report on the state of affairs of the party in the South-west post-2011 general elections.

It also urged Nigerian youth whom the party described as the future of the country to be encouraged to participate fully in the newly banded PDP and come up with virtues that would not jeopardize their political interest.




[img]http://www.sunnewsonline.com/images/olusegun-aremu-obj.jpg [/img]

http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2011/aug/29/national-29-08-2011-016.html

Even with their decimal performance in that state? hmm thats PDP for you.

who care, the most important issue is performance.

will they benefit the state and Nigeria?

Hope the country will get big money from agriculture.

A country with increment of 5 million people  per year with that little money.

we need performance

Obj neva tire for politics?Frankly,its high time he bowed out of the nigerian political arena.