Members of the Peoples Democratic Party in Osun State have said that the party will continue to lose elections in the state if the internal crisis rocking it is not settled.
The party members, under different umbrella bodies, declared that the party leadership was digging its grave in the state, especially with the removal of the state Chairman, Hon Soji Adagunodo.
Adagunodo was suspended by the National Working Committee of the party for alleged anti party activities, malfeasance, maladministration and embezzlement of N150 million, which was said to have been released for the 2018 governorship election in Osun State.
One of the party’s groups, Unity Group, led by Hon Gbemi Olufiade, while speaking in Osogbo, said the allegation of the embezzlement of N150 million against Adagunodo was false, saying the said fund never existed.
Olufiade noted that there was no time such money was released from the National Headquarters or the Osun State chapter of the party for campaign during the last gubernatorial election in which Senator Ademola Adeleke was the party candidate.
He challenged the elder brother of Ademola Adeleke, Dr Deji Adeleke and National Headquarters of the party to clarify the issue if any fund was released to them during the campaign, saying that these allegations were baseless and a ploy to give the state Chairman a bad name.
Also speaking, another group, the Concerned PDP Members said the crisis within the party had been responsible for its failure to return to power in the state for 12 years.
The group opined that if the crisis continued, the party would continue to record failures in elections in the state.
Moses Adeleye, the coordinator of the group, asked that Adagunodo be returned as chairman, adding that a disciplinary committee should be set up to investigate allegations made against him.
“It is the responsibility of the national leadership of the party to investigate petitions written against any officer within the party. However, such petition must be investigated in the light of the local situations of the Party,” he said.
