Supreme Court: Not yet Uhuru for Kwara PDP

It is not yet Uhuru for Kwara PDP as the party is still divided despite the Supreme Court Judgment that settled the national leadership rift between Ahmed Makarfi and Ali Modu Sheriff . UMAR BAYO ABDULWAHAB reports

Despite the recent Supreme Court judgment that validates Senator Ahmed Makarfi ’s national caretaker committee of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and as the national chairman of the party, in Kwara State the question is still being asked: Who is the authentic state chairman of PDP?

Th is is the question begging for an answer as members of the political class and observers anxiously await the intervention of the national leadership of the party, even as political events in the state unfold. Prior to the Supreme Court ruling that affi rmed the Senator Ahmed Markarfi ’s leadership of the party, there are two factions laying claims to chairmanship position of the PDP in Kwara state.

Th ey are the Barrister Iyiola Oyedepo’s faction and Price Sunday Fagbemi -led faction. Ordinarily, the recent apex court’s ruling would have brought an end to the internal wrangling within the party but recent developments after the judgement however have shown that it is not yet Uhuru for the opposition party in the state. Th ere is still confusion within the ranks of the PDP in the state over who is the authentic chairman of the party.

Post -Markafi ’s events Shortly after the court’s pronouncement, Fagbemi had addressed a press conference at the state secretariat of the party where he had been operating from after dislodging the Oyedepo’s faction. Fagbemi , along with the pioneer chairman of the party in the state, Barrister Kunle Sulyman and other party chieftains, said the judgement of the Supreme court affi rming the Makarfi ’s caretaker leadership as the national chairman of the party has better repositioned it to wrestle power from the ruling All progressives Congress (APC).

He declared that the party’s doors are open to all members of the ruling APC and other parties who may be willing to join its fold saying that the apex court’s ruling has put the party in ‘‘a better stead to play its role as the leading opposition party in the country’’. He also called on members to be ‘‘united and take a cue from what unity achieved in Osun state senatorial bye- election last week’’. According to fagbemi ‘‘the widely applauded ruling of the nation’s apex court has rekindled Nigerians hope in the judiciary as the last hope of the command man.

‘‘Th e supreme court ruling is a welcome development and a relief to Nigerians yearning for a virile opposition party, the absence of which has made the ruling to be slumbering and denying the citizens good governance. ‘‘We thank the judiciary for staying on the side of the truth and we urge its offi cials to continue in that direction, so that together we can build a country where there will be equal opportunities for all, regardless of class status.

‘‘With this landmark judgement, our great party, the PDP is now in a better stead to play its role as the leading opposition party in the country. ‘‘It’s also a great opportunity to reposition the party ahead of the 2019 general elections. ‘‘We have strong conviction that the party under the chairmanship of Senator Ahmed Makarfi will wrest power from the crisisridden ruling All Progressives Congress in the next general elections. Th e feat recorded by the PDP in the last weekend senatorial bye election in Osun state is a pointer to this’’. Th e party congratulated Senator Ahmed Makarfi and his team on what he described as ‘‘landmark supreme court’s judgment’’. New twists Supreme Court: Not yet Uhuru for Kwara PDP There is still confusion within the ranks of the PDP in the state over who is the authentic chairman of the party despite the Supreme Court… Makarfi Sherriff While the Fagbemi’s camp was jubilating over the affi rmation of Markarfi ’s leadership, a group sympathetic to Oyedop’s faction cautioned the national leadership of the party against imposition of any one as the party chairman in the state .

Th e group came out publicly to canvass support for Oyedepo’s faction him to be named the state chairman of the party by the national leadership. Th e youth, under the auspices of the concerned PDP youths in Kwara State, called on the national chairman of the party, Sen Ahmad Makarfi , to give recognition to Akogun Iyiola Oyedepo as the chairman of the party in the state.

Speaking with journalists in Ilorin recently, members of the youth wing of the party led by Comrade Musbau Esinrogunjo, cautioned the national leadership of the party not to impose anybody as state chairman on the party in the state. Rather they called on the national leadership of the party to resolve lingering leadership crisis in two factions of the party towards achieving a united front in the leading opposition party in the state before 2019 general elections.

Th e youth leader, who expressed support of PDP youths in the state for the national chairman, Sen Ahmad Makarfi and rejoiced with him and the party on the recent Supreme Court judgment, said that, “we shall be calm, fi rm and resolute as party loyalists and wait for further directive from the party”.

“It is indeed a feat worthy of celebration from all and sundry. Th e victory has provided an avenue for us to put our house in order to take over the mantle of leadership in the country come 2019,” Esinrogunjo added. According to the youth leader, Oyedepo as the state chairman of the party had provided sound leadership since he was elected.

Rousing welcome for Fagbemi As the leadership crisis rages on with observers waiting to see where the pendulum swings, the Fagbemi’s faction came alive again last week with his reported affi rmation as the authentic chairman of the party in the state by the party’s National Caretaker Committee (NCC). Until the Supreme Court ruling which resolved the PDP leadership tussle at the national level in favour of Senator Ahmed Makarfi , Prince Fagbemi’s faction of the party in the state had always pledged its allegiance to Makarfi .

It was therefore not surprising when Fagbemi was accredited to attend the maiden national executive council (NEC) meeting of the PDP’s NCC in Abuja last fortnight ago, after the Supreme Court’s ruling as the only recognized party chairman from Kwara state. Fagbemi’s name is number 88 on the accreditation list of the party’s NEC meeting.

Th e pioneer chairman of PDP in Kwara state, Barr. Kunle Sulyman confi rmed the development to mammoth crowd of party’s supporters that gathered at the party’s secretariat along Asa Dam Road, Ilorin Th e PDP supporters in their hundreds had converged at Ganmo, near Ilorin to give Fagbemi and his team a rousing reception on their return from Abuja, where they had gone to attend the NEC meeting.

Another leader of the party in the state and former Special Adviser on Legislative Matters to former president Goodluck Jonathan, Senator Makanjuola Ajadi also corroborated the PDP’s pioneer chairman in the state. Ajadi said “in my honour, I stand here to inform you that our party NCC has affi rmed and confi rmed Prince Sunday Fagbemi as thonly PDP chairman in Kwara state. “However, there is no victor nor vanquish in this issue. We are therefore urging our brothers in the other divide led by Akogun Iyiola Oyedepo to return to the mainstream so that together we can return our great party to its winning streak again” Responding, the PDP chairman, Prince Sunday Fagbemi said he was overwhelmed by the recognition accorded him by the PDP NCC in Abuja as well as rousing welcome organised in his honour by the party’s supporter’s on his arrival from Abuja. He extended a hand of fellowship to the leader of the other faction of the party, Akogun Iyiola Oyedepo and his team. He requested them to join hands with him in rebuilding the party that once ruled the state for eight years. Fagbemi thanked the party supporters in the state to continue to work hard for the victory of the party in future elections. As the political atmosphere in the state gradually gathers momentum ahead of 2019, general elections ,political class in state are still disturbed that there is no virile opposition that can wrest power from the ruling APC in the state. While the opposition PDP is yet to put its house in order, the APC is boasting of 100 per cent governance structure from the local government to state and national assemblies as well as the governorship seat of the state. At its state congress held in Ilorin at the weekend, APC chairman in the state, Hon. Balogun –Fulani Ishola boasted that the peaceful congress of the party was indication that it has 90 % of voters populace. Th e congress which saw the emergence of 3 delegates each from 193 wards of the state was supervised by national offi cers of the party and offi cials of Independent National Electoral commission INEC. With all this factors playing out, observers of the unfolding events in the state are almost concluding that the same factors that prevented the chances of the PDP from wrestling power from ruling government in 2015 were still at play. According to some analysts the party has been infi ltrated by those they described as impostors and until the party purges itself of the impostors, the ruling APC will continue to have it ways.

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