Ekiti/Ondo to fill dep national organising secretary • Makinde meets BoT members, others
S’East lawmakers threaten to boycott convention
•As Sule Lamido’s loyalists vow to resist Turaki’s emergence as chairman
TWENTY days to the convention of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ibadan, the South-West leaders of the party have zoned the positions of national secretary and national auditor to Oyo and Ogun states respectively under the micro-zoning of the three national offices zoned to the area.
The micro-zoning of the offices was the main agenda of a zoom meeting Governor Seyi Makinde held with some members of the Board of Trustees (BoT) of the party over the choice of candidates for national offices, the Nigerian Tribune learnt, at the weekend.
The post of deputy national organising secretary was micro-zoned to Ekiti and Ondo states.
The meeting came in the midst of schism within PDP in the North following the choice by some North-West stakeholders of former Minister of Special duties, Taminu Turaki, SAN, as the consensus candidate for the position of national chairman, zoned to the North.
However, some PDP members led by the
by the outgoing National Organising Secretary of the party, Honourable Umar Bature, opposed the choice of Turaki on the claim that there was no consultation before his name was “imposed” on the zone.
The crack within the party widened on Sunday, when stakeholders in the Jigawa State chapter of PDP rejected the former minister as the preferred candidate of the North for national chairman, currently held by Ambassador Ilya Umar Damagum.
The sources told the Nigerian Tribune that Makinde and the other PDP leaders agreed on the microzoning formula for the positions of national secretary, national auditor and deputy national organization secretary, following the proposal sent to the national secretariat by the three zones in the southern part of the country.
Nigerian Tribune had exclusively reported the proposal contained in a memo dated September 1 addressed to the office of PDP national chairman with copies sent to all members of the National Working Committees (NWC) of the party, and signed by the national vice chairman, South-East, Chief Ali Odefa; Engineer Ajisafe Kamorudeen (South-West national vice chairman and Chief EmmanuelOgidi in his cpavity as the South-South national chairman.
It was gathered at the weekend that Makinde held the meeting with former deputy national chairman of PDP, Chief Olabode George, another elder in the BoT of the party, Dr Olu Alabi; , national vice chairman, Barrister Kamorudeen Ajisafe and Alhaja Atinuke Oyawoye (BoT member from Osun State)
Ogidi in his cpavity as the South-South national chairman.
It was gathered at the weekend that Makinde held the meeting with former deputy national chairman of PDP, Chief Olabode George, another elder in the BoT of the party, Dr Olu Alabi; , national vice chairman, Barrister Kamorudeen Ajisafe and Alhaja Atinuke Oyawoye (BoT member from Osun State)
The governor was quoted to have said that two individuals have approached him that they are interested in becoming the national secretary of the PDP.
But the governor left the meeting which started 30 minutes behind noon schedule after the post of national secretary was conceded to him because he had to attend to another urgent matter.
However, others leaders resolved to microzone the post of national auditor to Ogun/Lagos, a which sources led to a prolonged but robust debate on if the position should go to Ogun State since the current deputy of national secretary zoned is occupied by Lagos.
According to the sources, the another view is that the post of national auditor should conceded to Ogun in appreciation of the tremendous support and contributions of Chief Adebutu and other PDP stalwarts to the PDP in the state over the years. The meeting concluded with a resolution that the Ondo-Ekiti microzone should produce a consensus candidate for post of deputy national organising secretary for the convention.
The collection of the forms by aspirants is expected to end on September 3, based on the timetable and schedule of activities for the convention, while the deadline for the submission of the forms to the Directorate of Organisation/Mobilization is September 26, for processing and onward transmission to the screening committee.
S’East lawmakers threaten to boycott convention
The South-East Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members in the House Representatives have threatened to boycott the forthcoming national convention of the party if woman leader position is removed from the zone, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported.
Spokesperson of the zone in the House of Representatives, Honourable Ikenga-Imo Ugochinyere, made the position of his colleagues known in a statement, on Sunday, in Abuja.
Ugochinyere said that they will issue a disclaimer against the convention slated to hold Nov.15 and November 16 in Ibadan in two weeks if they confirmed that the party had zoned woman leader outside the zone.
He said that there is still time to remedy the situation before screening of aspirants if the insinuation making the rounds has any iota of truth.
Ugochinyere said that no elected lawmaker from South-East will remain in PDP if the impending insult is allowed to happen.
“We don’t want to see PDP suffer more setbacks, still, we will stick to our position at the Ibadan convention if, in the next few weeks, what we are hearing is confirmed.
Nigerian Tribune