By Omar Bah
The mobiliser of the People’s Progressive Party in Latrikunda Sabiji Constituency, Talibo Kanjora has said OJ’s claims that he will not work with President Barrow again should not be used as political propaganda by Barrow’s opponents.
“As a party we want to clarify that our former leader’s comments that he will never work with President Barrow again was necessitated by the fact that when he was sacked, he was not told why he was relieved of his duty which has led to many speculation. That has not gone well with him,” he said in a Standard exclusive.
He said OJ’s comments were personal and that doesn’t in anyway affect his relationship with the president, saying Barrow’s opponents should not use that as an advantage for political gains.
“We have noticed that those who are not in good terms with the president are using OJ’s comments as propaganda. We want to make it very clear that OJ has nothing against President Barrow and nobody can use him to propagate hatred against Barrow,” he asserted.
He said OJ’s claims do not mean he has anything against Barrow and that as far as the PPP is concerned “we believe OJ was just being honest with the way he reacted on the matter.”
“If there is someone who Barrow can call a political God father today is OJ because during the formation of the coalition, PPP’s 70 candidates voted for Barrow and after that he followed Barrow throughout the country during the campaign. So after doing all these for the coalition if he was unceremoniously sacked it is only normal for him react the way he did,” he said.
He said if OJ had any intention to rival Barrow, he would have done that during the coalition primaries by contesting for the leadership.
“So the fact of the matter is that OJ has nothing against Barrow and he is fully behind him and he has nothing to do with the difference between Barrow and others. OJ does not have the heart to hate anybody, yes we want to rule this country again but we want to achieve that goal in a decent way. We will not allow anyone to use us,” he added.
He called on Gambians to be law abiding and ensure that they put the country’s interest ahead of any selfish interest, saying governments will come and go but the country will always remain.
“The parliamentarians should concentrate on the wellbeing of the country and put aside their political differences. We should also avoid tribal politics,” he said.
