Southwest leaders of the main opposition, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) have moved to resolve the leadership crisis which has engulfed the Lagos chapter of the party since the conclusion of the 2019 general elections.
Lagos PDP has been factionalised into two camps in recent months, with the two leaders of the party in the state, Segun Adewale and Dominic Agboola laying claims to the chairmanship position.
Adewale is alleging that the tenure of Dominic, who is backed by a leader of the party in the state, Bode George, expired last December and that based on the 2016 state congress of the party he was the legally recognised chairman.
However, Adewale, with scores of his supporters recently gained entrance and took control of the party’s state secretariat.
National Vice chairman (Southwest), Eddy Olafeso, had in the past insisted that Dominic was the authentic party chairman in the state.
However, there are indications that there is a new twist into the crisis, as Olafeso confirmed in an interview with BusinessDay, Monday, noting the leadership of the party was working assiduously to resolve the crisis and was making progress on the issue.
“We will resolve the matter. Lagos PDP crisis is a very complicated issue and I am personally on that. We have held some meetings recently,” Olafeso said.
Olafeso, however, revealed that the party would hold a fresh elective state congress in the where new leaders would emerge.
Meanwhile, factional chairman, Adewale, has warned the national leadership of the party that the next state chairman must emerge through a credible process as stipulated in Section 47 (6) of the party’s constitution, urging them to reject all those coming to lobby with names because it would further escalate the crisis in the state chapter of the party.
The spokesman for the Adewale-led faction, Ademola Adeoye, told BusinessDay, Monday, that Adewale would not accept any election that was not in line with the party’s constitution.
“We would not accept any fresh congress that is not lined with the party’s constitution. Every candidate must be given a chance, or else Adewale would continue to see himself as the party chairman,” Adeoye said.
Since the commencement of the crisis, several leaders of the party have defected to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
A former Minister of works, Adeseye Ogunlewe, recently threatened to dump the party for the APC if the current crisis was not resolved.
Political observers in the state have attributed the current division in the party to the PDP dismal performance in Lagos State in the 2019 general elections.
The party won only two Federal House of Reps seats in the State, and none in the State House of Assembly, while its governorship candidate lost in all the local government areas in Lagos.
