The dust raised by the last ad hoc ward delegate congress of the Peoples Democratic Party in Osun State has yet to settle days after the exercise took place across 332 wards in the state. Violence was reported in many of the wards, and two persons were reportedly killed in two of the venues where the exercise took place, raising concerns about what lies ahead in the party’s governorship primary slated for March 8.
In the exercise, the two camps struggling for the control of the PDP in the state held on to their grouse, bickering and aimed for each other’s jugular, while the congress lasted. Findings by Sunday PUNCH indicate that one of the two groups, which is led by Sunday Bisi is loyal to the 2018 governorship candidate of the party, Senator Ademola Adeleke. The other group, led by Wale Ojo, an ally of Soji Adagunodo, is leading a caucus supporting the person that came second in the 2018 primary, Dr Akin Ogunbiyi and other four aspirants seeking the PDP ticket for the July 16, 2022 governorship election.
Other aspirants that have obtained nomination form to vie for the PDP governorship ticket beside Adeleke and Ogunbiyi are Dele Adeleke, a relation of the 2018 candidate of the party; Prince Dotun Babayemi, Mr. Sanya Ominrin, and ex-Secretary to Osun State Government, Fatai Akinbade. While the camp led by Bisi has not hidden its intention to hand over the PDP governorship ticket to Adeleke, Ojo, who has also been laying claim to the seat of the state PDP chairman, but was rejected by the national headquarters of the party in Abuja, has been enjoying the attention of other five aspirants in the race.
Through the ad hoc delegate congress, the party had wanted to elect three delegates in each of the 332 wards that would later elect the governorship candidate of the party. But some political observers had assumed that the congress, if held without major rancour, would unite various interests battling for the control, and position the opposition party in a good stead for another opportunity to occupy the biggest office in the state.
On the other hand, many followers of affairs of the PDP said the stratification of the party into the camp of two major groups, contending for the governorship ticket had lasted too long, thus posing a huge barrier to an amicable resolution of the crisis.
The first sign of an impending crisis hovering round the neck of the PDP before the congress was the verbal attack that the former state governor, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, was subjected to during a meeting he held with the members of the committee organising the exercise in Osogbo. Omo
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