Tension erupted in Ona-Ara Local Government area of Oyo State on Thursday as some aggrieved members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) staged a protest against the alleged plan by the party leadership to return the Deputy Speaker of the Oyo State House of Assembly, Abiodun Mohammed Fadeyi, for another term as the representative of Ona-Ara State Constituency.
The protesters, who converged at strategic locations within the local government, carried placards bearing different inscriptions expressing their dissatisfaction with the move.
Some of the placards read, “No Room for Third Term,” “Ajala is Okay,” “We Don’t Want Fadeyi in Ona-Ara,” “Respect Our Elders,” and “No More Fadeyi.”
The demonstrators accused some leaders within the party of allegedly attempting to impose the current lawmaker on the constituency despite growing opposition from party members and residents.
According to them, the people of Ona-Ara deserve a fresh representative ahead of the next electoral cycle.
The protesters maintained that allowing Fadeyi to return for another term would go against the wishes of many grassroots party members who are demanding a new face to represent the constituency.
They also insisted that the constituency should not be turned into what they described as a “personal political territory.”
Some of the aggrieved members openly declared support for another aspirant identified as Ajala, describing him as a more acceptable option for the constituency.
They argued that the PDP risks internal crisis and possible division in Ona-Ara if the concerns of party loyalists are ignored.
As of the time of filing this report, neither the leadership of the PDP in Oyo State nor Hon. Fadeyi had officially reacted to the protest or the allegations surrounding the alleged third-term agenda.
