Another serious crisis is brewing within the People’s Democratic Party in Osun State over who clinches the ticket of the Osun West Senatorial District.
The PDP had after its governorship primary been embroiled in crisis following the fallout from an election that produced Senator Ademola Adeleke as the party’s flagbearer.
A chieftain of the party, Dr. Akin Ogunbiyi, who was defeated by seven votes at the governorship primary, rejected the result of the primary and dragged the party and its candidate to court.
Ogunbiyi alleged that the primary was manipulated to favour Adeleke
Ogunbiyi alleged that the primary was manipulated to favour Adeleke after the huge amount he (Ogunbiyi) allegedly spent on the party and its leaders in order to clinch the party’s governorship ticket.
Sensing that the litigation and apparent defection from PDP would affect Adeleke’s chances at the governorship election, the PDP leadership, led by the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, was said to have brokered peace between Adeleke and Ogunbiyi.
Ogunbiyi was said to have been pacified with the offer of the Osun West Senatorial ticket. Ogunbiyi thereafter withdrew his suit in court and declared total support for Adeleke for the governorship race.
But there was another twist to this agreement after the major opposition party lost the governorship poll to the All Progressives Congress in Osun State as Ogunbiyi and another PDP bigwig, Akogun Lere Oyewumi, have been laying claim to the Osun West Senatorial ticket.
Osun PDP was said to have slated the senatorial primary for Tuesday, October 2 in Iwo Town hall before Oyewumi, the former Director General of the Ademola Adeleke Campaign Organisation, allegedly mobilised his party supporters to a hotel along Iwo-Ibadan Expressway, and organised a separate primary said to have been devoid of the presence of party officials.
Oyewumi was said to have stormed the venue of the primary election officially slated for Iwo town hall on Tuesday escorted by armed hoodlums to summon his supporters to the hotel, where another primary would hold.
It was gathered that the state and national leadership of the party steered clear of Oyewumi’s primary excercise because the ticket had been conceded to Ogunbiyi.
Members of the party in Osun West Senatorial District, who are both loyal to Ogunbiyi and Oyewumi had thronged Iwo Town hall and were awaiting the arrival of the PDP officials before Oyewumi allegedly stormed the venue and moved for commencement of the exercise without the party’s authorised officials.
He was said to have been ushered into the arena by daredevil hoodlums and security operatives.
While the process was taking form, supporters of Ogunbiyi were said to have kicked against the commencement of the primary without the presence of the party’s national delegates.
This development led to altercations as some hoodlums in clothes marked “Event Guard” assaulted the revolting party members and started shooting sporadically.
Hon Mudashir Lukman, an indigene of Iwo and a PDP leader in the community, intervened and brokered peace.
Some party members were said to have sustained varying degrees of injuries while the clash lasted.
