Like the proverbial thick smoke that has refused to disperse from the atmosphere, the crisis hampering the progress of the South-West zone of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has continued to mature into grades. In this report, Correspondent Wale Elegbede of our Lagos Bureau examines the current disconnect between the leadership of the party in the zone and some chapters under it over the choice of who should be the substantive secretary at the national level. The notion that the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, would still govern the south- west is always alluring especially when such cadence is coming from the sugarcoated leaders of the party in the region, who more than often are always at each other’s tail. Clearly, the image of the party in the region after the judicial turnaround in Ekiti and Osun states can only best be described as battered, but it got its woes compounded with fragments of unresolved internal rumbles in its Oyo, Ogun and Lagos chapters in the run off to the 2011 elections. Of course, the rumble in the zone has continued to raise disruptive fear to the leadership of the party in Abuja, but if anything, the disruption is only going to intensify, especially with the latest gongs of war from different angles of the zone over who becomes the national secretary of the party. After the ejection of former Governor of Osun state, Olagunsoye Oyinlola as the national secretary of the party on January 11, by a Federal High Court in Abuja, which was presided over by Justice Abdul Kafarati, following a suit filed by the Ogun state chapter of the party to challenge the nomination of Oyinlola by the south-west caucus. Delivering judgment in the suit, Justice Kafarati held that the PDP should not have presented Oyinlola as the nominee of the party in view of the two court judgment which nullifies the congress, adding that the former governor of Osun state was not worthy to be recognized as the national secretary of the party and should vacate the office immediately. “The conduct of the defendants constitute flagrant disobedience to a subsisting court order and also constitute a criminal contempt of court and any step taken thereafter by the PDP secretary is null and void,” the judge said. After the removal of Oyinlola, the skirmishes to replace him took full swing with the three major blocs in the region, namely, the Obasanjo group, the Buruji Kashamu funded caucus and the Lagos group, ably propelled by Chief Olabode George, scampering on all fronts to present their choice candidate for the plum PDP scribe job. While Dr. Remi Akintoye from Lagos was acting as the national secretary of the party, Oyinlola who apparently is from the Obasanjo assembly was also muscling strength to return to Wadata house as the national secretary. However, a special extra-ordinary congress of the party held over the weekend at La Chateau Hotel, Awolowo Avenue, Bodija, Ibadan, with delegates from the six states from the zone-Oyo, Ondo, Osun, Ogun, Ekiti and Lagos. Aside the Lagos state chairman of the party, Captain Tunji Shelle, who was absent, the remaining five chairmen of the party formed part of the forum that unilaterally endorsed Professor Adewale Oladipo from Osun State as the national secretary of the party. The gathering over the weekend nominated Oladipo for the post of national secretary ahead of the zone’s congress slated for August 24 and the special national convention scheduled for August 31. According to the chairman of the south- west caretaker committee, Chief Ishola Filani, the nomination of the Professor of Environment and Earth Sciences from Ile- Ife, was in obedience to the order of the court which sacked Oyinlola from office. Already, the endorsement of Oladipo has been loathed in some quarters, especially from the Lagos state chapter of the party and some groups within the party. Firing on all cylinders, the Tunji Shelle led executive of the party unequivocally condemned the resolution of the said caucus meeting at Ibadan, urging the National Secretariat to discountenance same. In a statement signed by its publicity secretary, Taofik Gani, the Lagos PDP said it would amount to “a betrayal of leadership” for the zonal caucus to nominate another person to replace Dr Remi Akintoye, as acting national secretary of the party. “The present occupier of the seat of the acting national secretary was endorsed by the NEC of the party. The NEC is a higher authority than the Zonal Executive Committee. This hierarchy of authority must be understood by all. Taking actions outside the decisions of the NEC would be tantamount to making ultra vires decisions and Lagos PDP cannot be part of this. “The Lagos State PDP thus unequivocally condemns the resolution at the said caucus meeting whilst also urging the National Secretariat to discountenance same,” the party said. Also, a coalition of various interest groups in the South-West chapter of the PDP, and the Restoration Movement, have described the endorsement of Oladipo as fraudulent, contemptuous and unpopular, warning that the process is undemocratic. In a statement signed by the group’s coordinator, Dokun Adebayo, it queried the basis for the endorsement of Professor Oladipo, noting that it is an affront on the leadership of the party. Also hitting hard on the endorsement of Oladipo, the concerned elders of the PDP in Lagos state under the leadership of Engr. Kamal Giwa, petitioned the National chairman of the party, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, noting that the nomination is a deliberate attempt to provoke crisis and cause disaffection among the rank and file of the party in the zone. In a strongly worded letter addressed to the chairman and made available to Nigerian Pilot, the elders said, “As part of his misadventures, Chief Filani recently organized a kangaroo zonal congress which was boycotted by 90 percent of eligible delegates and leaders. The muddled up Congress made a mockery of all known best traditions and norms of our great Party. There were no known delegate’s lists. There was no presence of the Independent National Electoral Council. There was no known guideline for voting. Chief Filani and his team simply and crudely mobilised by their financier, one Buruji Kashamu, appointed a so called acting national Secretary. This is Bizarre. This is outrageous,” it averred. Speaking on the crisis of interest, Filani said, “Bode George has been taking wrong steps. “How he came about putting a Lagos man in the position belonging to Osun State in line with the court order was not known to us.” He quoted the court order marked suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/504/2012, saying, “An order is hereby granted directing the 3rd defendant (Independent National Electoral Commission) to rectify the records of the 2nd defendant (PDP) by deleting the name of the 1st defendant (Oyinlola) as the National Secretary of the 2nd defendant. “And replacing same in accordance with the provision of the constitution of the 1st defendant with candidate nominated at a valid congress of the South-West zone chapter of the 1st defendant to be held within 21 days of the order of the court.” Corroborating Filani, the Zonal Publicity Secretary of South-west PDP, Barr Waheed Lawal, described the statement from its Lagos chapter over the endorsement as unfounded and puerile. Lawal said some elements within its Lagos State Chapter are suffering from what it described as political amnesia and have lost touch with reality, “otherwise they would have known that the Congress held in Ibadan did not choose an acting National Secretary but nominated a candidate as substantive National Secretary.” He stressed that Oladipo’s nomination was in accordance with the provisions of Part 7 VII, Section 28, Subsection 3, 4 and 5 of the party’s constitution. “We make particular reference to subsection 4 which says; an extraordinary meeting of the Zonal Congress shall be held if requested for by at least two third of the members of the State Executive Committees”. “In essence, an extra ordinary meeting can be called by members of the State Executive Committees of four States(which is two third).But in this case five States namely,Ekiti,Ogun,Osun,Oyo and Ondo called for the meeting. Even at that, about 29 delegates came from Lagos including the Zonal Organizing Secretary, Engr. Adedeji Doherty; Zonal Youth Leader, Hon.Bolaji Jeje and Ex-official member, Hon.Olalekan Abubakar.” “Besides, the Federal High Court in Suit No. FHC/ABJ/C8/504/2012, presided by Justice Abdu Kafarati not only removed Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola as National Secretary but also prescribed the process for choosing his successor.” When contacted, Prof. Oladipo described the statement as a factional position, saying that Lagos state was ably represented at the meeting that endorsed him, noting, however, that the party would reconcile all factions soonest.-Nigerian Pilot
Posted on: Sat, 20 Jul 2013 00:11:53 +0000
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