There are indications that former governor of Oyo state, Senator Rasidi Adewolu Ladoja, former vice chairman, Senate Committee on Poverty Alleviation, Senator Olufemi Lanlehin, former chairman, Senate committee on Banking and Financial institutions, Senator Ayoade Adeseun and other stalwarts of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, have concluded plans to dump the party today – Thursday.
DAILY POST gathered that the crisis in the Oyo State chapter of PDP took a new dimension on Wednesday when news of the harmonised list of the state executive of the party filtered in.
It was gathered that the harmonised list of the SEC of the party, which was released by the national leadership of the party on Tuesday, was said to have jolted Ladoja’s faction.
The faction reportedly conceded some slots to the faction headed by the 2015 Social Democratic Party, SDP, governorship candidate, Engineer Seyi Makinde against Ladoja’s faction’s expectation.
While the list ceded 14 slots to Ladoja’s faction, 12 went to Makinde’s faction. The positions of the State Chairman, Women Leader, Publicity Secretary, Legal Adviser, Vice Chairmen I and II went to Ladoja; the positions of State Secretary and many other assistantship positions went to Makinde faction.
DAILY POST recalls that the two factions had organised parallel congresses at two separate locations late last year when they could not agree on a sharing formula. While the Ladoja faction which produced Alhaji Kunmi Mustspa as the chairman held its Congress in Watershed group, old Ife-Ibadan Road, another faction loyal to Makinde which produced Chief Jacob Adetoro held its own at Baptist secondary school located at Oke-Ado area.
The national leadership of the party pushed by the factionaization, it was gathered, took the decision to harmonize the two factions in order to ensure that all party members have a sense of belonging.
DAILY POST gathered on Thursday morning that Ladoja will today after a meeting which will be held this morning in his Ladoja’s Ondo Street Ibadan residence announce the next step and the political party they would be defecting to.
However, efforts made by DAILY POST to get official confirmation from the concerned party stalwarts proved abortive.
But a source close to Ladoja, who confided in our correspondent in a short conversation on Thursday morning, said “Yes, they are yet to announce. But there is a meeting this morning, that is when they will announce. The meeting is taking place at Senator Ladoja’s house this morning. It is closed door meeting”.
Another source close to the leadership noted that the decision to pull out of the arrangement was due to what the aggrieved leaders termed injustice on their part.
He noted that the former governor alongside his lieutenants, among whom were Lanlehin and Adeseun, are expected to announce their faction’s defection after the meeting.
The source added that they decided to leave the party for Makinde and his followers among whom were former House of Representatives’ leader, Hon. Mulikat Adeola-Akande, Senator Hosea Agboola, Alhaji Hazeem Gbolarumi among others for them to have a formidable platform to tackle the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, in the state.
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