Before the upcoming governorship race, different voices inside the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) officially reaffirmed their viewpoints on the party’s structure and political direction, bringing new details to light regarding the leadership crisis roiling the PDP’s Osun State chapter.
The state chairman, Sunday Bisi, has denied allegations that he has been removed from office, and his standing is at the heart of the conflict.
According to Bisi, the stakeholders’ forum’s announcement of his alleged expulsion was unlawful and ineffective.
Bisi insisted that his term as the state’s legitimately elected party chairman is still in effect while speaking to reporters in Osogbo on Thursday.
“The forum is not authorized by law to alter or dismantle the party’s elected structures. He declared, “I am still the chairman.”
He maintained that decisions impacting elected officials could only be made by the party’s duly constitutionally formed organs.
The PDP in Osun, Bisi revealed, had endorsed Governor Ademola Adeleke for reelection rather than fielding a candidate for the August governorship election.
Governor Ademola Adeleke has been endorsed by the PDP for reelection because the party does not have a candidate for the August gubernatorial election. It’s the reality of the situation,” he said.
Bisi acknowledged the party’s internal conflicts but stated that the majority of the state’s elected officials were still PDP members.
“The governor and deputy governor are the only members of our elected authorities who are still in the PDP. We have endorsed Governor Adeleke since our party does not have a candidate,” he continued.
The chairman also reacted to statements ascribed to Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, the former governor, saying that they fell short of the stance of what he called the mainstream structure of the Osun party.
According to Bisi, the comment attributed to former Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola is a clear betrayal and a continuation of an unsuccessful attempt to stop Governor Adeleke in 2022.
He clarified that certain strategic choices had been prompted by the uncertainty surrounding the governor’s political future caused by internal PDP disputes at the national level.
The PDP national leadership’s rift posed a threat to our governor’s campaign. Seeking a platform for re-election was the governor’s appropriate move. According to him, Prince Oyinlola was even the first to propose this idea.
Bisi said that the Osun party’s core leadership and membership base continued to support the existing state executive and its policies.
“The Osun PDP’s mainstream supports the governor, our leadership, and our elected mandate as state officers, all of which cannot be curtailed by any unelected, unlawful, or unauthorized group,” he said.
Earlier, Prince Oyinlola had insisted that the PDP was still a strong political force in the state in spite of Governor Adeleke’s alleged defection to the Accord Party at a separate stakeholders’ meeting in Osogbo.
The purpose of the meeting, he said, was to explain party developments at the state and national levels.
“There have been some confusing narratives being pushed out about the status of PDP, especially in Osun State. What we did today is to narrate situations as they are to our members, so that the entire wards and local governments in Osun will know exactly where PDP stands today in Osun State,” Oyinlola stated.
In response to allegations that the state’s PDP structure had been dismantled to create the Accord Party in order to help Adeleke win reelection, Oyinlola denied the allegations.
The PDP is a party that has representatives in every corner of the nation. He declared, “We will not let it die in our own time.”
He went on to say, “We are holding on to PDP,” adding that the party was still open to new developments. Our governor is welcome to return to the PDP tomorrow to be with his family, but for the time being, the party is firmly established in Osun State.
