Angry chieftains ask Lagos PDP chair to quit
There is an uneasy calm in the Lagos State chapter of the PDP as some chieftains of the party have passed a vote of no confidence on the Chairman, Hon. Moshood Salvador.
The chieftains asked him to vacate the office immediately for allegedly failing to carry them along in running the affairs of the party.
Daily Trust reports that the lingering crisis blew open last Thursday when Salvador called for the state general assembly of the party, while at the same time some members from Lagos East met in Ikorodu where they accused him of not providing good leadership.
Among the chieftains who met in Ikorodu were Prince Ola Apena (a former deputy chairman), Prince Abayomi Kuye (a former organising secretary), Chief Aderibigbe Shitta, among others.
They accused Salvador of not implementing the 65/35 sharing formula for offices as recently agreed upon.
One of the aggrieved leaders, Chief Apena, who spoke with our correspondent at the weekend, said Salvador had failed to provide good leadership and that the earlier he was removed the better for the progress of the party.
Apena said, “A stitch in time will surely save nine. So the earlier we get rid of him the better. We don’t need a Merchant of Venice…you don’t mix business with politics. Politics is a different game, but the moment you want to turn politics into business, you lose focus.
“He doesn’t have what it takes to lead the party and we will continue to press for his removal and he will not receive cooperation from majority of the members if the authority is not doing anything about it,” he said.
It was learnt that some executive members of the party also stayed away from the general assembly organised by Salvador last Thursday, apparently challenging his leadership style.
However, Salvador, in a chat with Daily Trust, dismissed the call for his removal, saying those behind the call were “miscreants” who wanted to hijack the party.
Salvador said as a member of the National Executive Council of the party, nobody at the state level could remove him.
He said the allegation of failure to honour agreement levelled against him was unfounded as any grievance on that could be directed to the national secretariat.
“They did their congresses, gave me the lists of their officers, they even have their agreement; 65/35, and they have a template for it which I did not even touch. They are now saying they are not satisfied. If they are not satisfied, why not go to the national secretariat and complain? They expect me to come and be changing and manipulating papers and I said ‘no’.”
The chairman said he had the support of majority of members of the party and that those calling for his removal were not members of the exco; whether at the state or local government levels.
However, a source in the party told Daily Trust that the aggrieved members were looking up to a former Deputy National Chairman, Chief Olabode George, to resolve the crisis as soon as he was in the country.
The current crisis seems to be a fallout of the national convention of the party where Chief Uche Secondus and other members of the National Working Committee (NWC) were elected.