A former Minister of Agriculture, Audu Ogbeh has given an account of how he escaped being killed during his era as Peoples Democratic Party national chairman.
Audu was the PDP national chairman between 2001 and January 2005. He served as the minister of communications in the Nigerian Second Republic from 1982 to 1983.
While speaking at a public event broadcast by TVC on Tuesday, the former minister said the chairmen of political parties do not influence governance as many Nigerians think.
He said both the President and some governors elected under the platform of the PDP when he was the chairman did not listen to his advice on some key things affecting the country.
He said, “Their job (referring to the chairpersons of political parties) is not easy. Their job becomes even more difficult after the election. They have no control over the elected president. They have none over the senator. They have none over the governor even under their party.
“They are looked upon as beggars from the party’s headquarters. If something starts going wrong in the country and you draw the attention of the president that this thing is harmful, he tells you that he is the party leader.”
He narrated how armed men were sent to his residence when he was the PDP chairman to terminate his life silently but fortunately for him, he was not met at home.
He added: “I have had an experience, a very nasty one. I nearly got killed. A Land Rover was sent to my house to pick me up. And I was told later that I was to be taken to the bush and shot and buried.
“Luckily, I was not home. Few days later, somebody called me and said ‘leave the country as quickly as you can’ and I left. It is not as fine as it looks when we talk at seminars. You can’t control (as the party chairman).”
