Olagunsoye Oyinlola
Governors elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)
and the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) are set to clash over
moves to replace the court ousted National Secretary of the party,
Olagunsoye Oyinlola, and the PDP South-west zonal executive committee.
The South-west zonal executive committee, headed by Mr. Segun Oni, was
sacked following a court judgment that invalidated the zonal congress
that produced the members along with Oyinlola as the geopolitical zone’s
candidate for the PDP national secretary post at the last national
convention of the ruling party.
In a bid to resolve the crisis in the South-west chapter of the party,
the Chairman of the PDP Governors’ Forum (PDP-GF), Chief Godswill
Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State, set up a committee to mediate in the crisis.The committee, chaired by Katsina State Governor, Alhaji Ibrahim Shema,
has as members Delta State Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan; Benue State
Governor, Mr. Gabriel Suswam; and the Ebonyi State Governor, Chief
Martin Elechi.Twice, the committee had tried, albeit unsuccessfully, to resolve the
matter, resulting in its directive that South-west stakeholders in the
party should go and resolve their crisis and report back to the
committee.
The PDP-GF since then is yet to meet to receive the report of the Shema committee.However, while the forum is awaiting the report of the Shema committee,
the PDP National Chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, said last week that
the party would soon meet to conduct congresses in the South-west with a
view to electing a new national secretary.But speaking on the crisis in the South-west chapter of the party, a
governor from the North-central who does not want to be quoted, said:
“It is not fair for the NWC to be planning a congress for the South-west
to elect officers for the zone when the matter is still under review by
the PDP governors.
“A committee was set up and chaired by Governor Ibrahim Shema with
other governors as members, but that committee is yet to submit its
report and the NWC is rushing to conduct a congress. To some of us, we
think that there should a political solution to all these crises, so
that it will not look like it is planned to shut the South-west out of
the PDP.”Oyinlola, in a letter to the Shema committee, had accused Tukur of
deliberately plotting his exit with the hurried implementation of the
January 14 court judgment that ordered his removal from office.According to him, “The truth is that majority of our members in the
South-west are disenchanted as a result of many issues. And the manner
in which we resolve issues confronting us today will largely determine
the future of our political activities as a united and cohesive mass
movement that is destined to rule Nigeria for a longer period."
No comments:
Post a Comment