BY ABIODUN NEJO
The confidence crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ekiti State took another turn on Saturday as some stakeholders appointed Senator Biodun Olujimi as leader of the party in Ekiti State and Southwest.
The stakeholders urged PDP National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus, to dissolve the state executive and set up a caretaker committee to
pilot the party’s affairs.
This, they said became necessary as they no longer have confidence in the Chief Gboyega Oguntuase-led State Working Committee (SWC) of the Party in Ekiti.
These were contained in a communiqué at the end of the stakeholders’ meeting in Ado Ekiti on Saturday signed and read by the Protem Secretary of the PDP Stakeholders and former House of Assembly member, Hon Bunmi Olugbade.
They said the decision to install Olujimi the leader was because she remained the most top ranking elected official in the state and Southwest.
They also overruled the SWC on the suspension of former State Secretary of the party, Dr. Tope Aluko, saying he remains a bonafide member of the party.
Some PDP leaders had on Thursday stormed the party Secretariat in Ado Ekiti and locked it up, which signaled that they no longer had confidence in the party leadership in the state.
But a statement by the PDP National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, had immediately on Thursday faulted the invasion of the party state secretariat and expressed PDP National Working Committee (NWC) support for the Oguntuase-led SWC.
However, the stakeholders on Saturday said they decided to call for the disbandment of the state executive due to alleged financial recklessness being exhibited by the SWC.
They also resolved to back the candidacy of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and other candidates in Ekiti State to win the 2019 elections.
The communique reads in part: “We are poised to reposition and return the PDP to the people and therefore call on the party leadership to constitute an independent committee to look into the affairs of the party in Ekiti State with a view to repositioning the party for the 2019 elections.
“That there is an urgent need for reconciliation and the panacea for true reconciliation is the immediate dissolution of the present SWC of the PDP and a constitution of caretaker
committee.
“That we appreciate the efforts of Dr. Aluko in discovering and
detecting the illegal and suspicious withdrawals from by members of the SWC and hereby urge Senator Olujimi to liaise with the National Working Committee to freeze the party’s account in Ekiti with
immediate effect.
“That Senator Olujimi should constitute Advisory committee in all the 16 local governments to midwife reconciliation and also finance to strategise and mobilise funds for the party.
“That we appeal to our members who are aggrieved or sitting on the fence to come back to the party. Again, we stand by our party national EXCO, our presidential candidate, Alhaji Abubakar Atiku, the various candidates in Ekiti State and promise to vote for them substantially”.
Speaking, Senator Olujimi, who said her appointment as leader did not mean there is cfaction in the party, said Fayose was excluded from the meeting owing to the fact that he had just been released from detention by Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over alleged financial fraud.
She said: “We know what he might have passed through by staying in detention and we know it might not be easy for him to attend this meeting, so there is no faction at all in our party. My being appointed the Leader does not mean there is crisis.
“We are going to work together, I mean with former Governor Fayose. What we are doing is that we don’t want to allow his exit from office to mean the end of PDP in Ekiti.
“So, let me assure our supporters that we are on the same page with former Governor Fayose and other stakeholders. We are not factionalised and we shall work hard and ensure will win in next year’s election,” the senator said.
