The All Progres­sives Congress (APC) has advanced reasons why it has yet to issue former President Olusegun Obasanjo the APC membership card.

The APC said it actu­ally refrained from issuing Obasanjo the party’s fresh membership card after a thorough discussion and examination of the events and circumstances sur­rounding his exit from the ruling Peoples Democrat­ic Party (PDP).

The major opposi­tion party said though its leadership was “ecstatic” when Obasanjo left the PDP, its leadership had to allow “wise counsel” to prevail regarding mak­ing the former president a member of the APC.

Obasanjo recently dumped the ruling party, tearing his membership card publicly to pre-empt his planned suspension by the Ogun State executive of the PDP.

Last January when the APC presidential candi­date, General Muham­madu Buhari; the party’s National Leader, Senator Bola Tinubu and other party leaders met Obasan­jo in his Hilltop Presiden­tial Mansion, the APC National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun had assured the former presi­dent that the party would continue to retain the membership card it had reserved for him.

But speaking at the 78th birthday celebrations or­ganised for Obasanjo by the Centre for Human Se­curity, Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, Oye­gun said the party would be “demeaning” the for­mer president if it offered him its membership card.

Oyegun explained that immediately after Obasan­jo tore his membership card, the APC leadership, which became excited with the development, convened a meeting and wanted to take a decision to issue the former presi­dent the party’s member­ship card but eventually thought otherwise.

The APC national chair­man said the matter was exhaustively discussed at the meeting where a con­clusion was reached by the party leadership not to go ahead with issuing Obasanjo the APC mem­bership card.

He stated that the deci­sion was taken to shelve the idea of issuing the former president an APC membership card because Obasanjo had become the father of the Nigerian nation whose image had grown beyond that of an individual who should be partisan.

Oyegun added that with his exit from the ruling PDP and his decision to remain a non-partisan statesman, the APC now viewed Obasanjo as at­taining the status no other Nigerian had ever got to in the history of the country.

He stressed that the for­mer president had now become icon whose coun­sel and advice could be sought by all Nigerians regardless of their politi­cal party.

•Sourced from Saturday Sun. Photo shows Obasanjo.