In spite of former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s controversial exit from Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and tearing his membership card to shreds on Monday, Jigawa State Governor, Sule Lamido says Obasanjo still remains an icon.

He said Obasanjo by his action was only angry with his political children, insisting he remainsthe creation of institutions from the state to federal level, and his children can only apologise.

The governor, however, said even though the party hadmade some mistakes, abandoning the party was not the solution because the country is first before anything else.

Lamido was answering questions from State House correspondents shortly after a closed-door meeting with President Goodluck Jonathan in Abuja.

“Baba is more than a party man. He is an icon, a national symbol and a leader and an inventor, a creator of all the institutions today in Nigeria from the Presidency to the governor’s who are his own sons, are all his creations.

“And so, when a father is angry with his own children, we will only say we are sorry to him. But then, we cannot be renounced for whatever it is. If you do any political DNA of our blood, you will find his blood in us. No matter what we are, we may not be able to live up to his expectations.

“We might have made some mistakes, but abandoning us is not the solution because the country is first before anything else. So, he is our baba even up to the President. Baba is our baba no matter what. He is angry with us, but then, what do we do? He gave us the life at a time when Nigerians were fighting us, he stood for us,” he said.

Lamido noted thatsince 2007 and 2011, Obasanjo stood firm for PDP as father of the party, adding “if we made some mistakes, we are only human because we are heading human institutions. And I think by the time he reflects, how could he abandon his own children like that. Wherever we are, we are right in his heart. He feels for us, he cares for us.”

On whether they will go back to the former presidentfor reconciliation, Lamido noted, “when there is some kind of misunderstanding between a father and child, you don’t go to NTA or any other media to say you are going to do this. I mean the bond between us is so strong.

“I know he is equally pained. I know what he is going through because he is our father, but I will not tell you the strategy because when he was producing us, you were not there, when he was making us, were you there?”

Excerpted from Daily Sun

*Photo shows Obasanjo and Lamido