Dare Babalola
Despite the defection of Governor Ademola Adeleke to the Accord Party, ex-Osun State Governor, Olagunsoye Oyinlola, has insisted that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is a very strong political platform in the state.
Oyinlola stated this while speaking at a stakeholders’ meeting of the party held in Osogbo on Thursday.
The meeting, attended by the caretaker Chairman and Secretary of the party in the state, Tunde Tijani and Seyi Bamidele respectively, also had in attendance ex-Secretary to the Osun State Government, Fatai Akinbade, and ex-PDP South West Vice Chairman, Taju Oladipo.
The meeting was met with widespread rejection from appointed and elected officials in the state, who distanced themselves from the gathering.
Addressing the gathering comprising members drawn from all the 30 local government areas and the Ife East Area Office, the ex-Osun governor explained that the purpose of the meeting was to educate “our teeming supporters and members of our party on the situation of things in the PDP, both at the national level and the state level.
“There have been some confusing narratives being pushed out about the status of PDP, especially in Osun State, and what we have done today is to narrate situations as they are to our members, so that the entire wards and local governments in Osun will know exactly where PDP stands today in Osun State,” Oyinlola said.
Reacting to insinuations that PDP in the state has collapsed its structures into the Accord Party to ensure Adeleke’s emergence in the next governorship poll, Oyinlola said, “PDP is a party that has its tentacles in all the nooks and crannies of this country. It is not in our own time that we will allow it to die.
“We are holding on to PDP. If tomorrow, our governor decides to come back and be with his family in PDP, he is most welcome, but for now, PDP is standing in Osun State strongly.”
Also speaking, Osun PDP Caretaker Chairman, Tunde Tijani, said the new state leadership of the party would soon embark on a local government tour ahead of its proposed congress.
Tijani, who also rejected claims that Osun PDP has collapsed its structures into the Accord Party, further said, “PDP stands firmly, and it has not colluded with the Accord as being rumoured.
“We are going to each local government to constitute a committee that will oversee the affairs of the party in the local government, and they too will constitute the ward caretaker committee pending the time we will have congress at the state level,” he said.
An atmosphere of uncertainty has been hanging around the PDP in Osun following Adeleke’s defection to the Accord Party to pursue his governorship ambition.
The state PDP leadership, when Adeleke was still in the party, led by Sunday Bisi, was later dissolved and replaced with a caretaker committee by the National Working Committee of the party.
