Convention: S/West PDP leaders raise alarm over ‘potential landmine’

Leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the South West have warned that any attempt to deal with any group apart from the legally recognised executive could “contaminate the December 9 convention and render it a nullity.”

The South West Chairman of PDP, Chief Makanjuola Ogundipe, stated this in Lagos at the end of a meeting convened by some stakeholders of the party.

The stakeholders and leaders at the meeting included a PDP chairmanship aspirant, Chief Olabode George; a former National Vice Chairman of the PDP, South West, Alhaji Tajudeen Oladipo; a former Minister of Transport, Chief Ebenezer Babatope; and two former chairmen of Lagos chapter of the PDP, Hon. Moshood Salvador and Captain Tunji Selle, among others.

Their meeting followed the parallel meetings held last week by the Chief Makanjuola Ogundipe-led exco and the faction headed by Mr. Eddy Olafeso.

Daily Trust reports that the Ogundipe-led exco, and the Olafeso faction (believed to have the backing of Senator Buruji Kashamu) have been laying claim to the leadership of the zone.

The zone is deeply divided in recent ahead of the national convention coming up next month, and it is believed that the division has made it difficult to present a single chairmanship candidate out of five aspirants from the zone.

Addressing newsmen at the end of the meeting, Ogundipe who displayed various court documents to journalists, said upon hearing from the parties in the dispute, the leaders decided to notify the national leadership to deal with the legally recognised South West executive ahead of the convention.

He noted that a subsisting court order issued on August 27 had restrained Olafeso and his members from participating in the December 9 national convention.