The chairman, Organisation and Mobilisation Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in South West, Prince Buruji Kashamu, yesterday said the incessant attacks on his person by former President Olusegun Obasanjo were aimed at stopping him from supporting President Goodluck Jonathan.

Kashamu, who spoke in Ijebu-Igbo, Ogun State shortly after an emergency meeting of the PDP, promised to deliver the South West zone to the president’s re-election in 2015.

“Jonathan is a good president, he is loyal to Nigeria, he is a complete gentleman, transparent and a believer in due process. We are ready to go the extra mile in delivering the South West for him,” he said.

Kashamu had been in the eye of the storm following Obasanjo’s separate letters to Jonathan and PDP national chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, accusing him (Kashamu) of being “a habitual criminal wanted abroad for criminal charges.”

In his latest letter to Tukur, the former president declared that he was withdrawing from PDP activities over the “unsavoury” leadership position given to Kashamu as the party’s zonal leader in South West.

While insisting that Obasanjo lied against him, Kashamu vowed yesterday not to be distracted in backing the re-election bid of the president in 2015.

He claimed that the ex-president’s strategy was to stop him from supporting Jonathan in order to jeopardise Jonathan’s chances.

Kashamu, however, disclosed that he had put in place various strategies to win the South West for the president.

The party chieftain added that he had purchased 12 tankers of 22,000 litres of kerosene each for free distribution to people in the six states of South West zone.

He said, “You ought to know the strategy of Obasanjo; he wanted to hijack me from Jonathan, that if I don’t support Jonathan in South West, the South West would be easier for them. How many times has he called me? How many times Obasanjo has sent people to me that how are my so stubborn? Many that he had sent, I did not answer them because I am not a betrayer.

“When I love somebody and believe in the leadership of somebody, whatever happens I accept that I will go with the person. I believe in the leadership of Jonathan, I believe in the government of Jonathan and in his transformation agenda and I believe in his wise management.”

Kashamu, who averred that Obasanjo’s virulent attacks on his personality had continued to make him popular, vowed to resist the former president’s alleged penchant for imposition.

He said, “It’s only Jonathan that can open his mouth and say don’t support me again. What I’m doing is for the party, for Jonathan and the country.

“You know when it comes to mobilising the people, I’m a grassroots person. I’ve already opened offices all over the South West. In each state, I have registered in my data over 20,000 supporters. Tell me which grassroots does Obasanjo have? In the last election, they beat Obasanjo in his polling booth flat. I have 80 per cent of PDP leaders in Ogun.”

The PDP chieftain said Jonathan only needed the support of the grassroots to secure victory, urging loyalists of the president to return to the grassroots to work for him.