South West PDP chairmen allege plot to replace Secondus with George

Some Chairmen of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the South-West have accused Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde of a surreptitious move to replace the party’s National Chairman, Uche Secondus, with Chief Bode George.

They said the plot was capable of causing a crisis in the region because the party leaders in the South-West did not support the move.

The party chairmen, Deji Doherty (Lagos), Clement Faboyede (Ondo), Dr. Sikirulai Olawale Ogundele (Ogun) and Sunday Akanfe (Osun), had in a letter to the national chairman also accused Makinde of propelling the current Caretaker Chairman of Ekiti State, Hosea Agboola, to become the national vice chairman of the party

The chairmen, in the letter dated June 19, 2020, also frowned at the last Friday’s meeting of the South-West stakeholders of the party in Ibadan, Oyo State, noting that the meeting was unilaterally summoned by Makinde with no recourse whatsoever to the zonal executive of the party.

The letter reads in part: “We the undersigned are party chairmen in states of the South-West Zone and we feel duty-bound to alert you on the need to forestall the festering of any crisis in the South-West zone of the party.

“This action becomes necessary in view of the new schism rearing its head in our zone. It is our immediate concern to ensure that all hands are on deck to halt the growth of needless crisis that will negatively affect the health of our party in the South-West Zone.

“In this respect, we take due notice of the invitation to a purported South-West Zone meeting which held on Friday, June 19, 2020, unilaterally summoned by His Excellency, Oluseyi Makinde, with no recourse whatsoever to the zonal executive. This development, if not arrested, may signal the beginning of terrible developments in our zone.

“We are also aware that factors propelling the simmering crisis included that of Chief Olabode to become National Chairman at all cost and also that of Senator Hosea Agboola, the current caretaker chairman of Ekiti State to become national vice-chairman.

“These two men are exploring their closeness to the governor to prosecute inordinate ambition at the expense of the existing amity and understanding within the South-West Zone, which is currently being disrupted for this reason.”

“We urge the National Working Committee (NWC) to take immediate action geared at forestalling unnecessary crisis in our zone by calling the aforementioned men to order and educate them on the need to play by the rules and not create any trouble in the zone.

“We also wish to place it on record our confidence in the zonal caretaker committee to discharge its constitutional responsibilities exquisitely and will always support them in this regard.

“Our interest is majorly to ensure that our party is insulated from any unnecessary crisis and therefore urge the governor to take immediate actions in this respect.”