Suspended Osun PDP members alert Atiku over imminent lose 

From Lateef Dada, Osogbo

The suspended members of PDP from Dotun Babayemi’s Ayedaade Local Government are Chief Segun Odekunmi who is the Secretary of Elders Forum for PDP in the state, Honourable Adelani Ajanaku, a former Special Adviser to the erstwhile governor of the state, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola and Barrister Kehinde Adesiyan, a former executive assistant on legal matters to the Governor.

Others are Hon Mayowa Adegboye, Aliyu Adeyanju, Kamorudeen Ojo Elegunmeje, Ajayi Solomon and Munirudeen Adekunle.

In their petition to the national leadership of the party, dated Tuesday,18th October 2022, the eight petitioners warned of dire consequences of leaving the Osun PDP crisis unattended as the elections are gradually approaching.

The petition titled, “Re:Complaints Against the Illegal Suspension of Party Leaders from Ayedaade Local Government of Osun State By the State Caretaker Committee, Pursuant to Articles 57 & 61 of Peoples Democratic Party’s Constitution of 2017(Amended), the petition was forwarded to Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, Senator Iyorchia Ayu, all members of the National Working Committee of the party, and Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola.

“Our party has the chances of winning all the elections at the next general elections only in the atmosphere of unity and mutual respect for one another. We hope the National Working Committee of our party will timely intervene to correct this anomaly in the interest of the party so that this untoward action will not consume our party in the forthcoming elections” they warned

The suspended chieftains accused the state PDP Caretaker Committee led by Akindele of witch-hunting them because of their avowed support for the gubernatorial aspiration of Prince Dotun Babayemi, describing the anti-party allegations as baseless and ludicrous.

“We want to state clearly that the allegations were baseless and can not be substantiated with any material facts, by our traducers in the party. We say with all sense of responsibilities that Prince Oyedotun Babayemi hails from our local government and we have a moral duty to support his ambition” they further explained

According to them, supporting Babayemi’s ambition never connoted anti-party, noting to this effect that they worked tirelessly and assiduously for the success of the party as they had believed he would win at the law court, warning further that suspending members of the party at a time the elections were drawing nearer, was capable of creating doubts in the minds of PDP members and could adversely dim the chances of the party at the 2023 polls if not urgently addressed.

“You may need to know how ignoble is the idea of this suspension when the general election in which our party has fielded candidates for Presidential, Senatorial, House of Representatives and House of Assembly, is just a few months away. This is the time that the party ought to have exhibited a serious desire to woo many more supporters to ensure that PDP, our party, wins the election on a landslide scale” they cautioned

Also, the petitioners accused the state PDP Caretaker Committee of wanting to turn the running of the party activities to jungle affairs, stressing that none of them was duly informed of any of the allegations levelled against them as they said they only heard and read it in the news, maintaining that there was nowhere anyone of them from the eleven wards in the local government was formally contacted either verbally or in written forms.

While assuring that they would continue to give their best for the success of the party, they, however, insisted they would continue to be members of the party; saying, “we say with all emphasis that no person can stampede us into leaving the party that we have deployed our energies, resources and power to nurture and build since 1999 till date, for no justifiable reasons.”