Mimiko, Fayose can’t impose leaders on us – S’West PDP

The South-West leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party have said
they will not allow the Governor of Ondo State, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko
and his Ekiti State counterpart, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, to impose the
next national chairman of the party on them.

Rather, the leaders said they would meet in Ibadan before the
party’s national convention slated for August 17 at Port Harcourt,
Rivers State,  to pick the candidate of their choice for the
position.

The South-West Zonal Chairman of the party, Chief Makanjuola
Ogundipe, stated this in an interview with one of our
correspondents on Tuesday.

Ogundipe, who said he was speaking on behalf of officers of the
party in the zone, described the meeting hosted by Mimiko and
Fayose in Akure on Monday as a “nullity and non-inclusive.”

Makanjuola said, “We won’t allow Mimiko and Fayose to impose any
national chairman on members of the party from the zone and the
country in general.

“The Akure meeting is a nullity because they didn’t even allow
the genuine delegates to have access to the venue of the
meeting.

“A meeting that was dominated by non-delegates to the national
convention, statutory delegates were barred and so on, cannot be
said to be in the interest of the party in our zone.

“It is sad that even when a court of competent jurisdiction gave
a valid judgement that our executive should be in office till 2018,
the governors are disregarding it.

“We won’t go anywhere if we continue to choose the judgement to
obey and the one to disregard. We are therefore meeting at Ibadan
this week to take a constitutional decision on the issue.”

At the Akure meeting, the factional leaders had zoned the office
of the national chairman to Ogun and Lagos states, Ekiti and Ondo
states were allocated the office of the national treasurer while
Oyo and Osun states were asked to fill the position of the deputy
national publicity secretary.

The Punch reports that it is the Makanjuola-led zonal
executive that is recognised  by the Independent National
Electoral Commission.

The executive was however said to have been excluded the faction
from the Akure meeting.

It was also gathered that the members of the Ogun State
executive committee of the party led by Mr. Adebayo Dayo, were
prevented from gaining access to the venue of the meeting.

Ogundipe said that he would call a meeting of the leaders of the
party from the zone to decide when they would meet to take a
decision on the issue.

The South-West leadership of the party also met in Ibadan on
Tuesday and declared that the position of the chairman of the party
that was zoned to the zone by the National Working Committee of the
party remained open for all interested candidates to contest.

The decision, which was taken on Tuesday in Ibadan after an
emergency zonal meeting of the party at its secretariat in Bodija,
came less than 24 hours after the South-West elders and governors
of the PDP met in Akure, Ondo State, and zoned the National
Chairmanship position to Lagos and Ogun state.

A communiqué issued at the end of the meeting in Ibadan said the
South-West wing of the party opposed the position taken in the
Akure meeting because it was against the PDP’s constitution on who
had the power to convene any zonal meeting.

The Ibadan meeting was attended by Ogundipe, the zonal secretary
of the party, Pegba Otemolu, the auditor, Adekola Rasaq and other
officers.

At the meeting, Ogundipe maintained that the office of the
National Chairman of the party remained open to all interested
members in the six states in the zone.

He said, “At the meeting in Port Harcourt last week, the
position of the National Chairman, National Treasurer and the
Deputy National Publicity Secretary was zoned to the South-West. It
is only logical for us to come back home and decide how we are
going to share the positions

Meanwhile, a PDP national chairmanship aspirant, Mr. Jimi
Agbaje, has said that he will resolve whatever crisis his ambition
can create between him and his political godfather, Chief Olabode
George.

Agbaje, a former governorship candidate of the party in Lagos
State, stated this when he visited the makeshift national
headquarters of the party in Abuja on Tuesday to pick his
nomination and expression of interest forms.

Asked how comfortable he was to contest against his 
political godfather, he said, “just leave that to us, we will
resolve it at home.”

But he said he was sure of his chances, adding that he would not
have  picked the forms if he  did not believe he would
win.

“I would not have come here to collect the form if I do not
believe I am going to win this election come August 17,” he said
with confident.

On zoning, Agbaje said it was difficult to get a consensus
candidate “under circumstances where everybody felt that he was
qualified, adding that the beauty of democracy remained that people
should not be afraid to contest.

Agbaje denied being the candidate of the governors for the
position of the national chairman, saying he has yet to meet the 13
governors to inform them about his aspiration.

The post Mimiko, Fayose can’t impose leaders on us – S’West
PDP appeared first from online sources and was reposted by the community on Welcome to 9jalegal –
Nigeria’s Leading Legal Information and Services Portal.

The South-West leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party have said
they will not allow the Governor of Ondo State, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko
and his Ekiti State counterpart, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, to impose the
next national chairman of the party on them.

Rather, the leaders said they would meet in Ibadan before the
party’s national convention slated for August 17 at Port Harcourt,
Rivers State,  to pick the candidate of their choice for the
position.

The South-West Zonal Chairman of the party, Chief Makanjuola
Ogundipe, stated this in an interview with one of our
correspondents on Tuesday.

Ogundipe, who said he was speaking on behalf of officers of the
party in the zone, described the meeting hosted by Mimiko and
Fayose in Akure on Monday as a “nullity and non-inclusive.”

Makanjuola said, “We won’t allow Mimiko and Fayose to impose any
national chairman on members of the party from the zone and the
country in general.

“The Akure meeting is a nullity because they didn’t even allow
the genuine delegates to have access to the venue of the
meeting.

“A meeting that was dominated by non-delegates to the national
convention, statutory delegates were barred and so on, cannot be
said to be in the interest of the party in our zone.

“It is sad that even when a court of competent jurisdiction gave
a valid judgement that our executive should be in office till 2018,
the governors are disregarding it.

“We won’t go anywhere if we continue to choose the judgement to
obey and the one to disregard. We are therefore meeting at Ibadan
this week to take a constitutional decision on the issue.”

At the Akure meeting, the factional leaders had zoned the office
of the national chairman to Ogun and Lagos states, Ekiti and Ondo
states were allocated the office of the national treasurer while
Oyo and Osun states were asked to fill the position of the deputy
national publicity secretary.

The Punch reports that it is the Makanjuola-led zonal
executive that is recognised  by the Independent National
Electoral Commission.

The executive was however said to have been excluded the faction
from the Akure meeting.

It was also gathered that the members of the Ogun State
executive committee of the party led by Mr. Adebayo Dayo, were
prevented from gaining access to the venue of the meeting.

Ogundipe said that he would call a meeting of the leaders of the
party from the zone to decide when they would meet to take a
decision on the issue.

The South-West leadership of the party also met in Ibadan on
Tuesday and declared that the position of the chairman of the party
that was zoned to the zone by the National Working Committee of the
party remained open for all interested candidates to contest.

The decision, which was taken on Tuesday in Ibadan after an
emergency zonal meeting of the party at its secretariat in Bodija,
came less than 24 hours after the South-West elders and governors
of the PDP met in Akure, Ondo State, and zoned the National
Chairmanship position to Lagos and Ogun state.

A communiqué issued at the end of the meeting in Ibadan said the
South-West wing of the party opposed the position taken in the
Akure meeting because it was against the PDP’s constitution on who
had the power to convene any zonal meeting.

The Ibadan meeting was attended by Ogundipe, the zonal secretary
of the party, Pegba Otemolu, the auditor, Adekola Rasaq and other
officers.

At the meeting, Ogundipe maintained that the office of the
National Chairman of the party remained open to all interested
members in the six states in the zone.

He said, “At the meeting in Port Harcourt last week, the
position of the National Chairman, National Treasurer and the
Deputy National Publicity Secretary was zoned to the South-West. It
is only logical for us to come back home and decide how we are
going to share the positions

Meanwhile, a PDP national chairmanship aspirant, Mr. Jimi
Agbaje, has said that he will resolve whatever crisis his ambition
can create between him and his political godfather, Chief Olabode
George.

Agbaje, a former governorship candidate of the party in Lagos
State, stated this when he visited the makeshift national
headquarters of the party in Abuja on Tuesday to pick his
nomination and expression of interest forms.

Asked how comfortable he was to contest against his 
political godfather, he said, “just leave that to us, we will
resolve it at home.”

But he said he was sure of his chances, adding that he would not
have  picked the forms if he  did not believe he would
win.

“I would not have come here to collect the form if I do not
believe I am going to win this election come August 17,” he said
with confident.

On zoning, Agbaje said it was difficult to get a consensus
candidate “under circumstances where everybody felt that he was
qualified, adding that the beauty of democracy remained that people
should not be afraid to contest.

Agbaje denied being the candidate of the governors for the
position of the national chairman, saying he has yet to meet the 13
governors to inform them about his aspiration.

The post Mimiko, Fayose can’t impose leaders on us – S’West
PDP appeared first from online sources and was reposted by the community on Welcome to 9jalegal –
Nigeria’s Leading Legal Information and Services Portal.