Tag: Ogun PDP

Ogun State Peoples Democratic Party Chairman Chief Bayo Dayo says the reconciliation efforts of the leaders have strengthened the party to win the 2015 elections in the state. He spoke with LEKE SALAUDEEN.

Your executive came into being through a court judgment that nullified the congress held by the Obasanjo group. How has it been so far?

Let me correct the general impression that our executive emerged through a court judgment. The former executive led by Chief Dayo Soremi in March 2012 conducted the congresses at ward, local government and state levels in accordance with the constitution of our party -Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) – and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) guidelines. The congresses were supervised by the INEC observers and the representatives of the PDP National Working Committee (NWC).

But some powerful individuals who are in minority didn’t want the congresses to hold. They converged in a place other than the party secretariat and compiled the list of officers, which we objected to and we insisted on the congress proper. The power brokers in Abuja said the congress should not be upheld. The former national secretary, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, was busy writing secret letters to the other group led by Chief Odujurin that didn’t hold congress. At the end of the day, we were vindicated. INEC wrote that the Soremi-led executive was recognised.

At a stage, the NWC said they didn’t believe in the congress held by our group. That was why the Dayo Soremi-led executive approached the court to determine whether or not the congresses were in order. The court ruled that it was valid, having abide with the party’s constitution and INEC guidelines. We also prayed the court to declare the congress that presented Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola invalid. The court granted our prayer and declared his nomination improper.

Have you been reaching out to the Odujurin faction backed by ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo for reconciliation?

Once beaten twice shy. We have a kind of situation in 2011 where the party went into the election with different factions. We don’t want such experience to repeat itself. Hence, we have been going round to talk with the aggrieved members so that the party can remain as one and solid. We beg them where necessary to bury the hatchet and join hands to move the party forward. There must be differences, but once the aggrieved parties made their grievances known, we should settle them amicably since all of us belong to the same family under one umbrella. Those that have held elective or party positions should have a rethink and forget about the differences so that the party can regain its position in the state.

Have you reconciled with the former President Olusegun Obasanjo, in particular?

Baba doesn’t belong to any faction or group. He’s the father to us (PDP members) in Ogun State and the nation at large. A father doesn’t take side amongst his children. It is only those who are looking for favour or seeking relevance that formulate false stories in order to cause disaffection within the party. As children, we have been trying to book appointment to visit him and seek his words of advice. Baba Obasanjo is the overall boss of the party in Ogun state and at the national level.

The PDP National Chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, has suspended the special convention of the Southwest scheduled for August 24. What informed this suspension?

I wouldn’t know the reason for the suspension. It is a decision taken at the national level. Later, we will be informed. Certainly, there must be reasons for that. Remember that the national convention was originally planned for July 20 before it was shifted to August 31. The reason for this change was that July 20 falls within Ramadan and that it will not be convenient for our Muslim brothers to attend the convention while fasting.

Ogun PDP has announced the suspension of ex-Governor Gbenga Daniel from PDP. What was his offence?

Otunba Gbenga Daniel was suspended by his ward. Then, the party chairman in his local government informed the senatorial chairman. It was the senatorial chairman that announced his suspension. The state working Committee made a lot of consultations with the elders on his case. Gbenga Daniel is not honest with the PDP; his loyalty to the party is questionable. He made us lose 2011 general elections in Ogun state. Remember, that he floated Progressive Party of Nigeria (PPN) and asked his supporters to vote for the party. We would have won if the party (PDP) was intact.

As we are planning to reposition the party in the state, Gbenga Daniel’s loyalty cannot be ascertained. For him, it is one leg in PDP and another leg in PPN. Despite this, he has been negotiating with the Labour Party. He sent his wife to represent him at the Labour Party’ fund raising programme. We have told him to publicly renounce his membership of PPN and to tell the whole world that he has gone back to the PDP with his supporters before we can reinstate him but he has failed to do that. Once he complies with the party’s directive, he will regain his position as a party leader. We have no alternative than to suspend him. He remains suspended, until he renounces his membership of PPN and his romance with Labour Party. I am sure the National Executive Committee (NEC) would not condone indiscipline as we have done in the case of Gbenga Daniel.

It was announced that the Southwest PDP has unanimously endorsed Professor Wale Oladipupo as the National Secretary. But a faction has kicked against his nomination. What is happening?

The zonal congress that produced Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola as the PDP National Secretary was nullified by the court. With the court ruling, the position of the National Secretary became vacant and we have to make a replacement. So, an extra ordinary zonal congress was held last week in Osogbo for this purpose. The position was zoned to Osun State chapter. Two candidates emerged, but the other candidate stepped down for Oladipupo. All the delegates unanimously voted for Prof. Oladipo as a replacement for Oyinlola.

How prepared is PDP for 2015 general elections in Ogun State?

We are fully prepared. We are battle ready to wrestle power from Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) .If the elections were to hold today our victory is sure. In Ogun East Senatorial District where there are nine local governments, ACN will not win one. In Ogun Central, ACN may win two out of the six local governments because Governor Ibikunle Amosun is from there. But in Ogun West, he won’t get a vote. It is then that Amosun would know whether PDP or ACN is dead. It is unexpected of Amosun to say PDP is dead in Ogun state. It was the PDP that brought him into political limelight. He won the senatorial election in 2003 on the platform of the PDP. Why should he be talking ill of the party that he benefitted from?

How would you assess the performance of the ACN administration in the state?

The ACN government is yet to make positive impact on the life of common people. Go and ask the students, teachers, market men and women , farmers and Okada riders; all of them are complaining. Amosun’s government is interested in white elephant projects. Instead of expanding the roads to six lanes that have led to demolition of houses and shops, why not concentrate on access roads development. The township roads are bad. For instance, the roads in Ijebu-Ode are bad. From Ijebu-ode to Okunowa, the roads are in a state of disrepair. There is no development in the rural areas.

What is the zoning arrangement of PDP in picking its governorship candidate for 2015?

The party stakeholders will always come together and decide what is good for the people. I can’t tell you where our governorship candidate will come from. At the appropriate time, the party leaders and elders would meet and take a decision. Meanwhile, the members are free to signify their interest for the office.

The Chairman of the Ogun State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Adebayo Dayo, has said that the chapter is enveloped in crisis because certain party elders have refused to embrace change.

He lamented that the party members instigated by these elders have capitalised on their negative disposition to the State Executive Committee of the party to foment trouble .

Dayo, an engineer, gave the party’s situation report at the meeting of the Southwest PDP Stakeholders chaired by the Zonal Caretaker Committee Chairman, Chief Isola Filani, in Lagos. At the meeting, which held at the Lagos Airport Hotel, Ikeja, the representatives of the PDP chapters in the six states also spoke on the crises rocking the party.

In Ogun State, the group loyal to former President Olusegun Obasanjo has not fully reconciled with the Dayo leadership, following the directive of the national chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, that Senator Dipo Odujinrin was not the duly elected state chairman. Members of the group shunned the Lagos meeting.

Dayo explained that certain elders, who have refused to face the reality of change and forget the past are fueling the protracted crises in the Ogun PDP. He stressed: “We will cooperate with our leaders in the six states to succeed. We have problems in the six states. If we don’t bury our differences, there will be problem.

“We are fighting to be in government. Unfortunately, we have some elders who do not believe in change. Change has come. We must bury our hatchet and work together. Southwest PDP will continue to be marginalised, unless it wins elections”.

Giving report on the state of the party in Ekiti State, a member of the Board of Trustees (BoT), Chief Dayo Okondo, said that only a consensus governorship candidate can win power in 2014. He promised that the chapter will present a formidable candidate for the poll.

A PDP elder from Osun State, Senator Oluwole Alabi, said: “We will put our house in order and present able and acceptable governorship candidate for the next election”.

Former Works Minister Senator Adeseye Ogunlewe, who spoke for the Lagos PDP, said: “Disunity is our problem. Abandonment of the leadership is the problem. The leadership has been marginalised. Things are not too weel in the Lagos PDP. It is still rocky. Some leaders are still outside. They have grudges against their exclusion from the party. They must be brought back to be part of the party structure”,

Efforts to reconcile the two Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) factions in Ogun State have hit the rock. EMMANUEL OLADESU examines the implications of the protracted crisis for the troubled chapter.

Ogun State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is addicted to crisis. The two factions led by Mr. Adebayo Dayo and Senator Dipo Odujinrin have refused to sheath their swords. Much energy is concentrated on crisis resolution, instead of exploring wider opportunities for party growth. So far, the attempted reconciliation of the divisive interests has not yielded any result.

What has fuelled the intra-party crisis is the decision of the supporters of former Governor Gbenga Daniel, who defected to the Peoples Progressive Party of Nigeria (PPN), to return to the PDP. The party is clearly divided over the matter. A section believes that the return of Daniel’s men may reduce the influence of Odujinrin’s camp, which is backed by former President Olusegun Obasanjo. The faction has maintained that the former governor worked against the party in the 2011 election. Another section is however, of the opinion that Ogun PDP is incomplete without Daniel’s followers.

Daniel’s foes have advised the former governor to concentrate on his case with the anti-graft agency. On January 8, a High Court sitting in Abeokuta, the state capital, will either retain or quash 13 out of the 38 counts preferred against Daniel by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).The former governor is defending allegations of diversion of public funds. His counsel prayed the court to strike out the charges because, according to them, a commission of enquiry set up by the state government had already found him guilty and that the findings had been made public. Analysts point out that, if the 13 charges are struck out, he still has 25 other charges to contend with. Besides, the anti-graft body may still investigate the alleged duty waiver scam at the Gateway Holdings.

On March 22, 2011, Daniel had approved the defection of his supporters to the PPN. At a rally at the Abiola Stadium, Abeokuta, he had declared that “while it is true that PPN is the newest party in Ogun State, everybody agrees that today that it is a party to beat.” At another rally, he said: “the PDP was dead and buried in Ogun State”.

The PDP national leadership is aware of moves by Daniel’s associates to return to the fold. But the National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, clarified that the national body was not aware the format the defection to PDP would take.

Those blocking Daniel’s return to the PDP said that the former governor is not an asset to the party. They pointed out that, during the recent council poll, PPN came a distant third, adding that, if the court finds him guilty, he will definitely become a liability. But other party leaders differ, saying that, when he was governor, he contributed to the growth of the party in the state.

Prominent party chieftains in Dayo and Odujinrin factions noted that it will be difficult for Daniel to fully reconcile with party elders, including Gen. Obasanjo (rtd), Senator Jibrin Martins-Kuye and party financier Prince Buruji Kashamu, although some national leaders have advised him to toe this line.

PDP chieftains in Dayo and Odujinrin’s camps are at war. Both factions are also at loggerheads with Daniel’s group. Would the return of Daniel’s men facilitate or hinder reconciliation? Party chieftains have argued that the three camps were divided by the 2011 party nominations and only a peace move by outside forces could reconcile them.

The executive committee of the party in the state has always been the bone of contention. The former chairman, Bashorun Dayo Soremi and his executive committee have held a proper congress, following the verdict of the Federal High Court, Abuja, which gave recognition to the committee.

The executive committee led by Dayo emerged from the congress. On June 19, 2012, an Ogun State High Court sitting in Ilaro ruled that the Dayo-led exco is the legally recognized committee in the state. On August 3, 2012, it nullified the list of candidates sent to the Ogun State Independent Electoral Commission (OGSIEC) by the Odunjirin group for the July 21, 2012 council election.

On November 16, 2012, a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos nullified the purported congresses that produced the Odunjirin group, saying that it was not properly held. The court ordered the arrest and prosecution of party members causing trouble in the fold.In the same vein, the court had earlier nullified the Southwest congress.The Dayo-led exco was excluded from the zonal congress.

A lawyer, Lola Adeeko, lamented that some PDP leaders in Ogun State have decided to slap the law on the face. “The truth is: you cannot build something on nothing. If any aspirant thinks he can realise his ambition through these people that the courts have said ought not to be, such is a person is only wasting his time and resources. It is a nullity and cannot stand, as far as the law is concerned”, he added.

Now, the national leadership has set up Reconciliation Committees for the party across the six geo-political zones. Party members in Ogun State are praying want members of the committee will have the wisdom of Solomon and the courage of David to do what is just and right, and in the end, restore lasting peace to the party.

But will the factional leaders close ranks? Time will tell.