The group of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) South West zone, headed by Chief Makanjuola Ogundipe has called on Senator Ahmed Makarfi, the Chairman and Caretaker Committee, to urgently call to order, the governor of Ekiti State, Mr Ayodele Fayose over his activities within the party in the zone.
The dispute posited that instead of allowing peace to reign and also let the party maximize the opportunity of the recent verdict of the Supreme Court, which resolved its long time leadership crisis, Fayose and some leaders have been busy causing more problem that could create further imbroglio.
Reading a communiqué issued after a stakeholders meeting in Lagos yesterday, the faction rejected the leadership of Fayose and dissociate itself from his activities.
It also resolved that a social committee is set up at the zonal and national level to continue to mobilize people into the PDP, just as it would continue to reach out and appeal to all those who had left the party as a result of the high-handedness and intolerant activities of some members.
The party also noted that Ogundipe is the validly elected and judicially sanctioned leadership in the zone as it enjoined the national leadership and the Ekiti State chapter of the PDP to stop dealing with Fayose.
Ogundipe, a PDP stalwart from Ekiti, who was Fayose’s nominee on October 11, 2014, Southwest zonal congress condemned the alleged “hostile, authoritarian and destabilising activities of the governor.”
According to him, “We demand that he should be called to order before he sounds the death knell on the party in the Southwest. The authentic zonal leadership and stakeholders hereby rejected Fayose’s leadership.
We resolved further that henceforth the national leadership of our party and the Ekiti State chapter should desist from relating with him as it regards the zone.”
Alleging that Fayose and some others are fanning the embers of discord within the party, the party leaders also expressed concern over the activities of the duo of Eddy Olafeso and Bunmi Jenyo and others who were described as “products of a contraption which has since been nullified by the Federal High Court, Lagos in suit No. FHC/L/CS/605/2016.”
Insisting that his leadership remains in the region, Ogundipe said: “The provision of our party made it clear that any elected officer will serve for four years, therefore, nobody; either you are a governor or anything can remove us from office until October 2018.”
It however congratulated the National Caretaker Committee and other eminent members of the party on the resolution of its crisis, saying, “It is imperative of the party to reposition itself to take advantage of the disenchantment of Nigerians against the bad and inconsistency policies of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) ahead of the next general election.”
Also speaking, Professor Wale Oladipo, a former National Secretary of the party said it is an anomaly for any member of the party to come out and say it will or have expelled anybody while the PDP itself is still looking for members after the protracted crisis that forced most of its faithful to leave after its defeat in the last general election.
It further insisted there was no division in the party, as some would want to insinuate through their activities in recent times.
Meanwhile, Olafeso, who claimed to be the authentic Deputy National Chairman, Southwest zone by virtue of being loyal to the Makarfi’s leadership before the apex court verdict, dismissed Ogundipe and his people of not having the locus standing to declare anybody persona non grata since they have once openly announced their movement to Mega Party.
He added that the Ogundipe group was only grandstanding because the party has chastised Senator Buruji Kashamu for his activities saying, “The Supreme Court judgment was clear enough and if they want to join us they should be humble enough to accept their mistakes and come back.”
He wondered how Ogundipe would claim to remain in office till 2018 after the apex court verdict “there are jokes that should not be taken seriously.”
The list below contains the name of notables present at the meeting aside from Kashamu and Oladipo included former Ekiti State Deputy Governor, Abiodun Aluko; former PDP National Auditor, Fatai Adeyanju; Tunde Carenna, Segun Adewale, Wahab Owokoniran, Gbenga Otegbolu, Kolapo Ogunjobi, Hakeem Taiwo and Adekola Razak.
