Osun PDP: Intrigues ahead of 2015

Osun PDP: Intrigues ahead of 2015

The claim that the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) has distinctive internal mechanism through which it resolves wrangling among its members and leadership seems not to be applicable to the Osun State Chapter as it has been unable to resolve what appears its present conflict that has dragged on for long.

Findings from the party in recent times revealed that instead of the members and leadership of the party in the state reconciling among themselves after the Alhaji Bamanga Tukur’s orchestrated crisis at the national level, the party appeared to be moving from one crisis to another in the last few months.

The latest crisis that has engulfed the party is the alleged suspension of the State Secretary, Retired Major Raphel Towobola, by the State Working Committee of the party. Also a group of local government chairmen of the party passed vote of no confidence in the State Chairman, Alhaji Ganiyu Olaoluwa for suspending Towobola. At the time of filing this report, nothing has been done to alleviate the fresh crisis.

In a statement issued and signed by the Publicity Secretary of the party, Hon. Bola Ajao, Towobola was accused of anti-party activities. His suspension was made public after an emergency stakeholders’ meeting which took place on Monday, March 10, 2014, at the party secretariat.

Ajao noted that the suspension stand until the outcome of the state disciplinary committee adding that the action is in line with section 57 (3) of the constitution of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) 2012 as amended.

It was further gathered that some local government chairmen of the party kicked against the suspension of Towobola and called for the removal of the State Chairman of the party, Alhaji Ganiyu Olaoluwa, as well.

Corroborating Ajao, the Director of Publicity and Research of the party and Media aid to one of the governorship aspirants, Mr. Diran Odeyemi, told newsmen that Towobola was suspended for allegedly reporting Senator Iyiola Omisore to the police over alleged threat against him. He said that Towobola had breached the party rules by not informing the leadership of the party but chose instead to report the matter to the police, adding that the action was anti-party.

But the suspended Secretary, Towobola, explained that his insistence on the conduct of primary election ahead of the August 9, governorship election in the state, led to his purported suspension from the party adding that the game plan was to frustrate him on his stand to conduct primary for the selection of party’s governorship candidate.

Towobola who maintained that he remains the State Secretary of the party, said he had not contravened any of the provisions of the constitution of the party to warrant his suspension from the party adding that his purported suspension does not have the backing of the State Working Committee of the party.

Towobola who hails from Ile-Ife, where Omisore also comes from, said his purported suspension was aimed at excluding him from the party’s primary election slated for April 5 this year.

He said the suspension was a punishment for him for being neutral in the choice of governorship candidate of the party, saying that he had insisted that a primary election be conducted, contrary to the wish of some leaders of the party in the state.

About three months ago, a leading governorship aspirant on the platform of the party, Fatai Akinade Akinbade, tendered a letter of resignation of his membership of the party following an alleged attempt by the leadership of the party in the state to allow an anointed aspirant to emerge as the governorship candidate of the party. He dumped the PDP for the Labour Party (LP).

Hon. Niyi Owolade, former Attorney-General and Commissioner for Health and later Works and Transport, followed suit and joined Labour Party leaving Hon. Oluwole Oke, former member of House of Representatives and Chairman, House Committee on Defence, Senator Akinlabi Olasunkanmi, former Minister of Youth Development and Senator Iyiola Omisore in the race.

Going by party’s zoning arrangements; Senator Akinlabi Olasunkanmi has been technically knocked out of the race because the newly appointed Minister of Police Affairs, Mr. Abduljeleel Oyewale Adesiyan, hails from the same senatorial district with him. Adesiyan however belongs to Senator Iyiola Omisore’s political camp and was said to have facilitated his nomination by President Goodluck Jonathan for the purpose.

The PDP governorship ticket is now between Hon. Oluwole Oke and Senator Iyiola Omisore. Both Oke and Omisore hail from the same senatorial district of the state.

Before now, Senator Iyiola Omisore had been surreptitiously working to have a firm grip on the soul of the party in the state to realize his political ambition. It is no longer news that Ganiyu Olaoluwa, the state chairman of the party, belongs to his Omisore’s camp. He was said to have donated the party secretariat after they had been ejected from the former office along Dada Estate in Osogbo.

Omisore is also responsible for payment of staff salaries and running grants to the party. The Acting National Secretary of PDP, Professor Wale Oladipo and newly appointed Minister of Police Affairs emerged from this same political camp. All these are pointers to the fact that all means are being deployed by Omisore to have the party’s ticket to tackle the incumbent governor, Rauf Aregbesola, at the August 9th 2014 governorship election in the state.

Findings in the party revealed that Hon. Oluwole Oke, appeared not ready to become deputy to Omisore believing that he also musters the necessary support and credentials to rule the state. He is a young, dynamic and astute grassroots politician. He is currently on study course abroad and has promised to give Omisore a good fight over the PDP’s governorship ticket but his fear is whether the state executive of the party would be significantly impartial.

For Senator Olasunkanmi  Akinlabi, zoning appeared to be in his favour, provided he chooses to become deputy to Omisore. Feelers from the party revealed that Omisore tacitly nominated Adesiyan as Minister from Olasunkanmi’s senatorial district to trim down his chances and brighten his own.

Another discomfort the leadership of PDP is still contending with in the state is how to pacify and reconcile with the former National Secretary of the party, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, and his supporters. The fact of the matter is that Oyinlola, a former Governor in the state, still claims that he remains the National Secretary of the party and that he is ready to challenge it any time any day.

Speaking at the Osun Central Senatorial District meeting held in Okuku, recently, Oyinlola berated the party executive in the state for abandoning him in the struggle to reclaim his seat as the National Secretary of PDP. He pointedly told Ganiyu Olaoluwa, the party chairman who was also present at the meeting, that there must be genuine reconciliation if the party must win the August 9, 2014, governorship election in the state.

Oyinlola expressed his annoyance over the stand of the party executive in the state for allegedly supporting a particular governorship aspirant against the general interest of the party and the state and his replacement with Professor Wale Oladipo.

“If the PDP must win the forthcoming governorship election in the state it must showcase its achievements for seven and half years it was in power,” he said, noting g that he (Oyinlola) must be the one to do that because he had the records of all achievements, but with the current situation, he is afraid if the party can win the election without genuine reconciliation being done in the party.

One wonders why Omisore’s camp may have allegedly stabbed Oyinlola in the back. The face-off between them may not be unconnected with the ambition to govern the state. It was reportedly learnt that Oyinlola was not totally disposed to the governorship ambition of Omisore even when he held sway as the National Secretary of the party in Abuja which may have been why the latter decided to look the other way when the former governor (Oyinlola)  had trouble on the seat as National Secretary.

The acceptability of Omisore and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) may determine whether the people of the state, or southwest region, want to revert to mainstream politics or not. They tasted and tried the mainstream politics between 2003 and 2010 without distinct difference. To some, mainstream politics is unprofitable.

A critical study of the politics in the state has revealed that Omisore’s main focus and that of PDP is to take the state and the entire southwest region to the mainstream politics to attract more federal presence to the region, in particular Osun State. But political pundits in the state have observed that there is nothing to write home about in terms of federal presence in the entire southwest and particular Osun State under President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration. It is believed that the only thing the federal government could be said to be doing in the region and Osun State under Jonathan’s government is the on-going expansion of the Lagos-Ibadan Express way.

Judging from the level of on-going infrastructural development in the entire southwest region and in particular Osun State under the control of All Progressives Congress (APC), it would seem that dividends of democracy are indeed touching the doorsteps of the people of the area, in terms of road construction in the nooks and crannies of the area, youth employment, education reforms, tourism development, massive agricultural production, commerce, social welfare, among others.