Oley Dibba Wadda has detailed how people advised her not to join UDP as she lifted the lid on events that surround her decision to join the party.
Speaking on For The People By The People Show on Sunday, the former ADB official said: “It wasn’t about wanting to run for president, it wasn’t about wanting to be the flagbearer. I have heard the stories that the reason why I didn’t pursue Citizens’ Alliance was because I wasn’t offered to be a flagbearer. That wasn’t the case. If that’s what my vision was, I wouldn’t go into UDP.
“After the consultations with the UDP leadership, I came home last year. October, to be precise. Almost… Exactly a year ago. I came home, for two months I didn’t go out. I stayed indoors, I prayed, I consulted, I researched, I spoke to people, I sought advice. I felt hesitant about joining UDP until I went in. So in January when I met with UDP at the time, when I said ‘okay, I will consider this’, after consultations… And you know a lot people, very high profile people reached out to me externally. And I said ‘okay, I will consider going for UDP’.
“And most people who knew about my consultation with UDP advised me ‘don’t join UDP’. Their advice is UDP is the party that put Gambia in where it is today and so on and that they’re problematic, it is tribal. I was under so much pressure I had to really push back and really stay indoors and make sense and really think about what it is I wanted to do.”
