…As Makinde says now party fully united
By Adeyinka Adeniran
Indication emerged on Thursday that the lingering crisis bedevilling the Southwest region of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) may have become a thing of the past.
This is because the leadership and stakeholders of the party in the region have agreed to sheath their sword and let peace reign as they resolved to elect Osun born Chief Kamorudeen Ajisafe as the new National Vice Chairman (Southwest) of the party.
The leaders and stakeholders made the resolve during a meeting which held at the frontage of the Presidential Lodge, Oyo state Government House, Agodi, Ibadan.
The meeting had in attendance the Oyo State governor and leader of the party in the Southwest, Governor Seyi Makinde and his Osun State counterpart, Senator Ademola Adeleke.
Also in attendance at the meeting were former Governors Olagunsoye Oyinlola (Osun) and Olusegun Mimiko (Ondo), as well as the governorship candidate of the PDP in Ogun State in the 2023 general election, Ladi Adebutu.
Others were serving and former deputy governors of Oyo State, serving and former lawmakers as well as party executives in the Southwest and across the six states of the geopolitical zone.
Speaking shortly after the meeting, Governor Makinde emphasised that the PDP is now fully united in the zone.
He said: “The major outcome of this meeting is that, now, the Southwest PDP is fully united and we have a new National Vice Chairman in Barrister Kamorudeen Ajisafe. That is the outcome of the meeting.”
Speaking earlier, the chairman of the PDP Board of Trustees led by its chairman and former Senate President, Senator Adolphus Wabara, appreciated Makinde and his Osun State counterpart, Adeleke for providing leadership for the party in the Southwest.
He described the region as the citadel of politics in Nigeria, stating that all PDP members must rally round and unite by putting all their differences behind them.
“The humility of Governor Makinde is just unprecedented. I want to thank the governor and our brother from Osun State on this occasion. I rise to speak on behalf of the Board of Trustees and I am happy that we are coincidentally here with you.
“The Southwest is the citadel of politics in Nigeria in terms of education, development and exposure. But unfortunately, the PDP produced only two governors and I am sure the reason why that happened cannot be far-fetched.
“Now, we are here together as a family. If we are suffering, we are all suffering as a family. PDP remains the party that is not owned by anybody. It remains the most democratic party in Nigeria.
“So, I will beg all of us here to sheath our swords. It is on one or two people that will fill up vacancies and it is only God that knows best. Once these vacancies are filled through consensus or whatever, I beg of you to please accept it in good faith”, Wabara stated.
Also speaking after the meeting, the Deputy National Chairman (South), Ambassador Taofeek Arapaja, commended the leadership role of Governor Makinde and Governor Adeleke, adding that the Southwest zone has always taken the lead at the national level of the party.
He said, “We thank God that unity has returned back to the Southwest PDP. Today during our Zonal meeting, the two governors, Governor Seyi Makinde (Oyo) and Senator Ademola Adeleke (Osun) for the first time come together and met with our members to nominate who will be representing our zone in Abuja as National Vice Chairman (South).”
He said Nigerians should expect better leadership from the party in the zone and at national level with the renewed unity at the regional level.
“We are known for our leadership role and now that the Southwest is united, Nigerians will expect good leading. Leading is our natural role. We lead at the national level because you can now see that things are not all fine now that we are not leading, but with this unity and collaboration between the two governors, I think we are good to go and take our proper role at the national level”, Arapaja told reports after the meeting.
Similarly, the acting chairman of the Southwest PDP, Chief Rahman Owokoniran, who welcomed the leaders to the meeting, described it as a special one, saying: “This occasion is a special one, because it is the coming together of our two governors in the region to midwife the unification of our party in the region.
“The wishes of our governors and leaders is to strengthen our party in the zone in view of returning our party to a winning status, we are proud to have the two governors who are committed to making our party strong in the zone and in the nation at large.
“I want to thank the two governors of the South-West and the great leaders of our party for showing up at today’s meeting to share the vision of our two leaders.”
Speaking with reporters shortly after the meeting, Ajisafe thanked the two governors, the Zonal leaders and stakeholders for finding him worthy of the position.
He said he will throw his weight into the ongoing reconciliation in the zone adding that he will ensure that discipline will not be left out of his doings to uphold the rules, regulations and constitution of the party.
Ajisafe said “Reconciliation is ongoing, and as a Barrister, I should be able to lend my own weight too to the reconciliation so that at the end of the day we can easily predict the future that tomorrow will be good, that PDP is going to take its rightful position in the political arena.
“There’s no doubt, the two of them have come together, who else will be coming forward to sabotage the process?
“So, I will position myself in such as way that I will not undermine the regulations, rules and constitutions of the party. So, the reconciliation will move on and we will not put to the back side discipline, there must be discipline and with discipline the sky is the limit.”
