The Oyo State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) may be hit by a fresh crisis capable of tearing it apart ahead of the 2019 general election.
The fresh crisis came following the removal of six names from the list of state executive elected at the state congress late last year by the Uche Secondus-led National Working Committee (NWC) of the party, Nigerian Tribune reports.
Leaders of the party and former governor, Senator Rashidi Ladoja, and others like Senator Olufemi Lanlehin, Senator Ayo Adeseun, Dr Saka Balogun, Chief Sharafadeen Alli and others have expressed disgust at the decision and are said to be weighing options before them.
According to the report, the affected were the state secretary, Alhaji Wasiu Emiola (from Accord), who was replaced with Mr Wasiu Adeleke; the state organising secretary, Y.A Yinusa (from old PDP), was removed for Mr Alagbe Taiwo; and the financial secretary, Abiodun Ekolo, was dropped for Mr Akeem Arinola.
Sunday Tribune gathered that three ex-officio members of the state executive were also dropped from the list as contained in an advertorial published yesterday and signed by the party’s national organising secretary, Colonel Austin Akobundu (retd).
All the fresh additions into the state executive list are from the camp of one of the governorship aspirants in the party, Seyi Makinde, while those dropped were elected into the party from Accord and the old PDP.
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It was gathered that the development did not go down well with the majority of the party leaders and members who felt it would scuttle local arrangement being made to resolve the disagreement that arose from the congress.
The aggrieved leaders also felt that with two strategic positions —state secretary and organising secretary —handed Makinde’s group, “the ground is being undemocratically smoothened by Abuja for Makinde to emerge as the party’s candidate at all costs.”
The leaders concluded that with the decision of the NWC, it was evident that Secondus did not want Ladoja and other leaders in the party, a development that leaves them with either dumping the party or instituting cases in court to reverse the decision.
