PDP crisis deepens as state working committee asks chairman to resign

Members of the State Working Committee of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) in Ondo State have called on the Chairman, Fatai Adams, to resign.

The Ondo PDP had earlier been polarised between loyalists of the Integrity Group led by the G-5 Governors and those loyal to the presidential candidate of the party, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.

Sources said the Ondo PDP SWC presented their demand at a meeting with the leadership of the party.

The sources said they cited the inability of Adams to lead the party to victory in next month’s general elections. They also accused Adams of incompetence, high-handedness, lack of transparency, anti-party and polarisation of the party across the 18 local governments of the state.

It was gathered that the SWC told the leaders that the party Chairman has been unable to bring all aggrieved members of the party together and that the party’s candidates were working at cross purposes.

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A member of the SWC, who sought anonymity, said: “The Chairman of the PDP in the state is being used to carry out the selfish interest of some individuals within the party. As far as this man is the chairman, we would not win any election in Ondo in 2023”

Another source the party’s candidates were angry that they have not gotten any funding from the party to finance their campaign activities. The source said many leaders of the party were in the dark about the activities within the party.

He said: “Those who have openly tabled their grievances and challenged the leadership style of Adams and Jegede have been shut out of the party. The ongoing crisis in the party was caused by the inordinate ambition of a former governorship candidate to become the candidate of the party again in the 2024 governorship election in the state.

“They are scheming for the 2024 governorship election, instead of working towards securing a win for the 2023 election and delivering the state for PDP and Atiku. They are talking of 2024 governorship elections and that is the main reason for the division within the party.”

State Publicity Secretary, Kennedy Peretei, confirmed that some members of the SWC met with the leadership of the party, demanding the removal of the party chairman.

Peretei said the leaders appealed to the SWC members to sheath their swords and work with the Chairman for the development of the party ahead of next month’s election

Peretei said, ” Yes there was a joint meeting with the SWC members and the party leaders but the leaders have appealed to them to let peace reign in the party. It is an internal issue and it has been resolved. It is a normal thing to have issues within the party.

“They can’t be talking about the removal of the party’s Chairman some few days to elections, no matter the gravity of the allegations. The timing b is wrong. There was no talk about the Chairman resigning or being suspended or removed. This is not a good time for such the state to look forward to delivering the state for Atiku and other candidates of the party. We hope they will see reason and work for the success of the party in the next election.”

The Nation