Ekiti PDP: Rebuilding the rubble after ACN tsunami

Since former Governor Segun Oni of Ekiti State was sacked by the Court of Appeal, the state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party has been making moves to put its house in order amidst divisions among its members, FEMI MAKINDE reports.

The Peoples Democratic Party in Ekiti State has been in crisis for sometime now but the removal of Mr. Segun Oni by the Court of Appeal appears to have worsened it. The party is divided into many factions and its leaders tried to muffle those singing the discordant tunes. Sadly, the attempts have failed as the dissenting voices have continued to deepen.

The campaign of President Goodluck Jonathan in Ado-Ekiti was almost a flop if not for the efforts of former Minister of State for Federal Capital Territory, Navy Capt. Caleb Olubolade (retd), who worked hard to ensure a befitting rally for his boss. It was obvious that some of those who were supposed to organise the rally left the responsibility for Olubolade alone to bear.

But on March 2 when Jonathan arrived for the campaign, it became obvious to even to the blind that Ekiti PDP was not united and they demonstrated this publicly at the rally.

The supremacy battle was between Olubolade and Oni. While some youths hailed Olubolade others supported Oni who they referred to as the party leader in the state. The President, who was not oblivious of the happening, had to task the party to unite or forget any attempt of wrestling power from the Action Congress of Nigeria because it would be an exercise in futility.

“We appreciate the political challenges in Ekiti State but let the PDP unite because with unity the sky is the limit,” Jonathan said.

Despite this admonition, the PDP did not unite and campaigns especially the presidential campaign were almost 100 per cent shouldered by Olubolade who campaigned throughout the state.

It was observed that most of the leaders of the PDP thronged Goodluck/ Sambo Campaign office at Basiri area where the minister became the Automated Teller Machine dispensing cash for logistics for the party’s campaigns. Despite this, many PDP leaders and members did not show commitment to the project at hand because Olubolade was seen as the leader of the party in the state. Some of those who were expected to finance the activities of the party were said to have come to ‘ATM’ for their own share of the money.

One of the perfidious acts of some of the leaders was demonstrated at presidential campaign spearheaded by Olubolade in Iloro-Ekiti. While Olubolade was inside the town hall dishing out the message of hope and goodies awaiting the people if they voted President Goodluck, one of the PDP leaders who is a member of the current executive was seen outside the hall playing a local game called ayo with another leader of the party.

Although Jonathan won in Ekiti State, the victory was aided by many non-PDP members who decided to vote for the president and not the party.

On April 26 when the elections to the National Assembly and the state house of Assembly were conducted, many PDP members voted against their party’s candidates because some of their leaders had denied them of their shares of the national cake.

A member of the PDP was reported to have said, “My friends and I have came out to vote against our party not because the candidates are bad but because those who were paid to settle us decided to deny us of our rights. We have to show them because if we don’t, they will do worse next time.”

After the poll, it became obvious that the hurricane of the ruling ACN had blown away the umbrella of the PDP from the state and the party was left with just two seats at the House of Assembly. The party, which less than a year ago occupied the Government House, produced the Speaker and 12 lawmakers at the house of Assembly, had three senators, six members of the House of Representatives and 16 local government chairmen and their councillors is now left with just two inconsequential seats at the House of Assembly which has 26 seats while the ACN rules with 24 members.

The cracks already created in the party by the April poll was deepened by the jostle among the leaders of the party to make the ministerial list. While Olubolade who for his efforts and his closeness with Jonathan remains a favourite, some leaders of the party were bent on scuttling his chances as they launched a campaign of calumny against him calling him names and cooking up spurious allegation just to ensure that he was dropped from the list.

Reacting to this, a group known as Progressive Youths of the PDP in the state blamed Oni for waging war against Olubolade’s nomination.

The group in a communiqué signed by its chairman Mr. Sunday Lawrence and secretary, Mr. Femi Ogunlade, blamed Oni for the poor performance of the party in the just concluded poll.

The communiqué read, “We have observed that since Chief Segun Oni was sacked by the Court of Appeal in Ilorin, the PDP has not remained what it used to be before the judgment. We observed that instead of our leaders to come together to rebuild the party, they have been pursuing selfish interests. Chief Segun Oni who as the state governor was the leader of the party in the state and who should be held responsible for what befell the party in the state did not see any reason for the reorganisation of the PDP.

Instead, Oni is busy fighting Justice Salami and the Minister of State for FCT, Navy Capt. Caleb Olubolade, who the constitution of the party had already crowned as the minister representing the state.

Oni, who responded through his aide said, “The so-called group is unknown to the PDP in Ekiti State. It must be made up of irresponsible set of people who are not committed to the ideas of the PDP. Please ask them where was this group during the election? What has been the contribution of this group to the PDP in Ekiti State?

“This is a group being sponsored by some hungry politicians who are desperately seeking to become a minister or fighting to retain status quo. A sensible group will engage in acts that will unite the party. A reasonable group will reinforce any effort being made by party leaders to retrieve the mandate that was judicially hijacked by the Action Congress of Nigeria. This group is definitely reactionary not a progressive. It is a group made up of hungry people who are being used by some backboneless politicians just because of peanuts.

“Chief Segun Oni cannot descend so low to fight (Navy Capt. Caleb) Olubolade but he is squaring up with Justice (Isa) Salami.”

While this war was going on, some leaders of the party led by Chief Dapo Alibaloye called on the National Secretariat of the party to dissolve the current executive led by Chief Bola Olu-Ojo.

The leaders known as the Ekiti PDP Reformers Forum said that the executive-led by Olu-Ojo had failed woefully and should be sacked.

Some of those who are members of the forum include its Secretary, Mr.Femi Adeniyi, former Legal Adviser of the PDP in the state, Mr. Makanjuola Ogunlyeye, Justice Edward Ojuolape, Dr Adekunle Folayan.

The forum said that although the tenure of the current executive of the party was yet to expire but they said that the executive should no longer continue in office because of poor performance and financial recklessness among others offences.

They said that the party had needed to be reorganised for future

challenges in the state while stating that the victory of the ACN in the state was not a true representation of the PDP’s popularity in the state.

Alibaloye said, “This forum, because of the unhealthy state of the party in Ekiti, calls for massive reorganisation. Therefore, we would like to suggest and appeal to the National Secretariat of the party to effect an immediate dissolution of all organ of the party in Ekiti State with immediate effect.”

But Olu-Ojo who said that Alibaloye-led group was an amorphous one, described members of the group as cowards. He challenged them to declare themselves as a parallel group if they had the gut. The chairman denied mismanaging N100m allegedly released to the Executive to prosecute the Moba by-election. He said that the allegation of financial recklessness was a cooked up story to tarnish the image of the executive and he would not succumb to their ploy.

It seems that the era of throwing brickbats is over as prominent leaders of the PDP in the state are making frantic effort to unite all the warring factions and to reposition the party ahead of 2015 governorship election.

A leader of the party, Prof. Tunde Adeniran, last week held a meeting at his Ibadan residence where other leaders of the party had converged to resolve the crisis in the party and to reorganise it ahead of the next election.

Some of those in attendance according to a communiqué issued after the meeting include Oni, former Speaker, Tunji Odeyemi, the state chairman of the party, Chief Bola Olu-Ojo, Chief Dapo Alibaloye. The communiqué said that those in attendance called for unity, total commitment and loyalty to the party.

The communiqué read, “The 2011 general election has come and gone, leaving behind some previously unresolved issues and new challenges with daunting complexity. We are here primarily as brothers and sisters to put our house in order and chart a new course for the promotion of justice, unity and progress without which we cannot achieve the attainable goals of our party.”

The Director of Communication and Strategy of the party, Mr. Jackson Adebayo, told our correspondent that although he was not aware of the meeting, the party was already on a fact-finding mission to know where something went wrong and to resolve the issues in order to position the party for the future challenges.

Although the move to reposition the party is a good one, but the federal appointments which all the party members are waiting for will go a long way to determine the shape the party will take in the months ahead.