The National Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, Prof. Adewale Oladipo, on Sunday cautioned the leader of the Lagos State chapter of the party, Chief Bode George, for calling for the dissolution of the National Working Committee of the party.
George had alongside some PDP leaders in the South-West geo-political zone, who met in Ado Ekiti, demanded that the NWC be dissolved so that the party could be restructured.
George had based the call on the poor performance of the PDP at the polls.
Reacting to the call for the dissolution of the Adamu Mu’azu-led NWC, Oladipo in a statement which he personally signed, said it was unfortunate that some leaders were sowing seeds of discord in the party.
The statement read, “My attention has been drawn to a communiqué purportedly issued by some PDP leaders in the South-West, calling on me, the National Secretary, Prof. Adewale Oladipo, and the National Auditor, Alhaji Adewole Adeyanju, to resign from the National Working Committee.
“However, a very careful examination of the inherent breaches in the procedures adopted in the convening of the meeting as well as the content and tone of its resolution showed an orchestration by a few individuals, bent on sowing a seed of discord within the PDP fold in the zone.
“This is evident in the fact that the said communiqué in no way reflected the views of majority of those who attended the meeting, neither did it tally with the opinion of the generality of our party members in the region”.
The PDP scribe said the meeting was a clear breach of protocol as those who attended it did not have the authority to discuss issues of the party’s presidential campaigns because the highest-ranking national officers of the party from the zone were not invited.
“This is in continuation of the apparent marginalization of the National Working Committee and the party structure at all levels in the handling of the Presidential campaigns.
“Moreso, even some of those who attended the meeting were not privy to the agenda and the eventual content of the communiqué issued at the end”.
Oladipo reminded those calling for the dissolution of the NWC that its members were elected and they would remain in office until March 2016.
He further argued that it was ironic that some of the leaders, who could not even win their polling units for the party, were the ones calling for the resignation of others.
He, therefore, warned George, who is a former deputy national chairman of the PDP, to behave like a party leader.
He said, “While some of those asking us to resign performed very poorly even in their polling units, it is on record that the national auditor and my humble self, performed creditably and delivered our areas in the general elections.
“It is, therefore, disheartening that rather than joining other well-meaning members of our great party in supporting the National Working Committee in the ongoing re-engineering process to rebuild the PDP, some elders from our zone, particularly, a former Deputy National Chairman, Chief Olabode George, who should know better, have instead resorted to divisive politics by attempting to instigate our members against one another”.
Oladipo pointed out that what the party needs now in the southwest and indeed across the country is for all hands to be on the deck as the NWC works harmoniously in its determination to reposition the PDP to regain power in 2019.
“Our party members are by this therefore charged to watch out for individuals whose agenda is to sow seeds of discord and pave way for crisis within our fold for their selfish interests.
“The National Working Committee is now more than ever before determined to rebuild the PDP and restore its glory as the preeminent political party in Nigeria. This resolve is irrevocable and we shall not allow ourselves to be distracted in anyway by any person under any guise whatsoever”, he added.