Ahead of the zonal congress of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the South-West, gladiators are scheming to grab the soul of the party in the zone.
The National Working Committee (NWC) of the PDP, had on July 1 dissolved the South-West Zonal Committee and appointed a new one led by Mr. Dayo Ogungbenro to pilot the affairs of the party for a period not exceeding three months in line with the provision of Section 32(2) (e) of the PDP Constitution pending the conduct of the elective zonal congress.
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Though the party is yet to fix a date for the conduct of the election, stakeholders have commenced moves to fill the vacant positions.
The most hotly contested expectedly is the position of the Chairman of the zonal committee and National Vice-Chairman (South-West) in the NWC.
Before now, Dr. Eddy Olafeso occupied the position for two years until he stepped down to contest the governorship primaries of the party in Ondo State.
With the impending conduct of the congress, gladiators are however at loggerheads over the two chieftains eyeing the position including Olafeso and Ogungbenro.
Daily Trust reports that the infighting within the state chapters of the party had created tension and acrimony among the party chieftains.
From Ogun to Ekiti, Oyo, Lagos, Osun and Ondo states, chieftains of the party are divided over the choice of chairmanship.
The major gladiators in the battle for the soul of the party in the geopolitical zone are former governor of Ekiti State, Mr. Ayodele Fayose; the governor of Oyo State, Engr. Seyi Makinde, who is the only PDP governor in the zone; the Senator representing Ekiti South in the Senate, Biodun Olujimi; the factional governorship candidate of the party in the 2019 election in Ogun, Chief Ladi Adebutu; former Deputy National Chairman of the party, Chief Olabode George, among others.
The stakeholders led by Fayose had met in Abeokuta, Ogun State reecently to promote the candidature of Olafeso to the state chapter where the former Ekiti governor talked tough, accusing the Oyo State Governor of masterminding the crisis in the zone.
Present at the Ogun meeting were: Fayose, Olafeso, the governorship aspirant of PDP in Ogun state, Hon. Ladi Adebutu, among others.
The communique issued at the meeting was jointly signed by the PDP chairmen of Lagos, Mr. Deji Doherty, Sikirullahi Ogundele (Ogun), Sunday Olatunde Akanfe (Osun) and Bisi Kolawole (Ekiti).
They warned governor Makinde not to interfere in the affairs of the party at the zonal level, saying “It must be noted that each state has its own leaders as politics is local and its leadership structure must be respected, but no state is ruled or governed by another.”
They insisted that the current zoning formula of the party must be respected and followed strictly to avoid impending crisis in the zone.
The chairmen declared their support and adopted Olafeso as the “consensus” Southwest chairmanship candidate of the party.
They called on the national chairman of the party, Uche Secondus to call Makinde and the national leader of the party, Chief Olabode George to order and not disrupt the peace of the party in the zone.
Fayose who spoke at the meeting stated that the Oyo governor has no right to interfere in the local politics being played in each South West state despite being a zonal leader of the party.
He stressed that Makinde who was a zonal leader of the party due to his position as the only governor in the South West should allow every state to be governed by its local leaders.
He said: “There has been a reasonable cold war of who and who becomes the executive of the zone.
“Governor Makinde has demanded that the zonal executive be sacked and a caretaker be foisted on the zone which the party did.
“But, since the caretaker committee came into being, he has not allowed them to function because he produced the chairman.
“Beyond that, the fact that there is a sitting governor does not say I should go to another man’s state.
“Nobody should come to my state; if you come to my state, I will face you squarely.
“I will continue to respect him because he is my brother, I love him so much and I was part of his emergence.”
From Ogun State, the team moved to Lagos State where Olafeso was also purportedly endorsed by the state chapter of the party chaired by Doherty.
The party leaders, who met with the Lagos delegates to the zonal congress, included Dr. Olafeso, Hon. Bunmi Jenyo, Mr. Kazeem Deji-Ogunsakin, the state chairman of PDP, Engr. Deji Doherty; Dr. Bimbo Ogunkelu, Chief Bisi Kolawole, Hon. Soji Adagunodo, Hon. Sunday Adekunle, among others.
Doherty, while affirming the decision of 90 per cent of the Lagos State delegates to vote for Olafeso and his team, stated that stakeholders in the zone were impressed with the performance of the executive while in office for two years.
“Olafeso and his team helped to unite the party in the region.
“That is why you can see 90 per cent of the delegates seated here.
“We had successful primary elections for Lagos East senatorial zone and Kosofe Constituency 2 bye-elections, which were rancour free.
“These are some of our achievements in seven months.
“We are bringing the Eddy Olafeso executive back to come and stabilize the party in the South-West.
“I congratulate your team in advance, we shall meet at the congress ground,” he said.
However, the endorsement of Olafeso by the state working committee in Lagos is said to be generating ripples as it was without the imprimatur of some stakeholders.
For instance, it was learnt that the team failed to pay a visit to the Deputy National Chairman of the party, Chief Olabode George who is the leader of the party in the state and the zone.
“This was considered as a slight to Chief Olabode George who has been keeping the party together in the state.
“So, who now endorsed a candidate for the congress?
“This is the question,” a source close to George told our correspondent.
Another party leader who spoke on condition of anonymity said the purported endorsement of Olafeso was “a lie”, saying, “There was nothing like that.”
He added that the party has also postponed the congress because of the forthcoming Ondo governorship election and the bye-elections in Lagos State.
Our correspondents report just like the endorsement is generating ripples in Lagos, the faction of PDP in Ekiti under the control of Senator Olujimi is however backing.
Makinde’s preferred candidate for the Zonal Congress.
Olujimi representing Ekiti South Senatorial District has been engaged in a supremacy battle with Fayose over the control of PDP in the state.
This was why the Senator asked Makinde to ignore Fayose’s “outburst.
She restated that Governor Makinde is the zonal leader of the PDP in the South West and remains the indisputable leader and is free to visit Ekiti State at any time.
Olujimi, who spoke in her country home recently said, “Former Governor Fayose is a leader of the PDP and one of the many of the PDP leaders that we have in the South West.
“He is not the only leader and former governors, there are many.”
Makinde who later replied Fayose in a statement through his Special Adviser on Strategy and Political Matters, Mr. Babatunde Oduyoye said he would continue to play his role in the interest of the party, saying he would not be deterred by opposition to his reconciliatory roles in the party.
Now, the brewing infighting over the zonal congress was calmed following the indefinite postponement of the congress.
But despite the postponement, it was learnt that the gladiators are said to be unbending in their support for their preferred candidate, thereby fueling a cold war within the party.
Olafeso however vowed to unite the party if elected to continue where he stopped as the zonal chairman.
He stated that he had an unfinished project of strengthening the party and winning more states for the party in the region, just as Oyo State had been brought under PDP control.
“We are committed to serving with humility and ensuring that our people get whatever they are seeking from the party, not only at the zonal level but across the country,” he added.
