Ayu Wants PDP To Lose Osun Guber Poll – OPF Kicks

• Accuses him of destroying Party
• Seeks Elders intervention in crisis 

BY SEGUN ADEBAYO – A group of stakeholders in the Osun State chapter of the Peoples Demecratic Party (PDP) has warned that the opposition party is positioning itself to woefully lose the governorship election in the State come Saturday, July 16, 2022.

Acting under the auspicies of Osun Patriotic Front (OPF), the group claims the State chapter of PDP is currently engulfed by intractable crisis due to alleged compromise and bias of the party’s National Chairman, Senator Iyorchia Ayu.

And for normalcy and peace to return, the OPF is demanding that the founding fathers and other critical stakeholders of the party urgently call Ayu to order.

Accusing him of actions that are slowly destroying PDP in the South West State and priming it to lose the gubernatorial poll, Coordinator of OPF, Apesin Abiodun Adegoke, said the PDP National Chairman has continued to conduct himself as a divisive figure fueling division and factionalization of the party in the state rather than a leader that should ordinarily be a unifying figure for all members.

In a signed statement by Adegoke, the OPF further alleged that Ayu has consistently worked with bias in his handling of the Chapter’s affairs since his inauguration as National Chairman, adding that his support for the camp of factional governorship candidate of the party in the state, Senator Ademola Adeleke clearly demonstrates that partiality.

The OPF also said despite the agitation by PDP members for fairness, equity and morality in the composition of a Caretaker Committee for the State chapter, Senator Ayu clearly ignored the patriotic call by appointing staunch loyalists of Senator Adeleke into a seven member committee, without sparing a thought for the sensitivities of the other faction and the generality of Party members.

It further said; “It is shocking that Senator Ayu could not hide his bias for the Adeleke faction when he appointed majority members of the faction into the new Caretaker Committee of the Osun PDP.

“It is even more disheartening that what the Ayu-led National Working Committee (NWC) published as the composition of the committee is completely at variance with what was agreed with critical stakeholders of the party, including the Deputy National Chairman , Ambassador Taofeek Arapaja and the Zonal Vice Chairman of the party in the South West, Soji Adagunodo.

“It is also instructive to note that Senator Ayu has not deemed it fit to call for reconciliation since two factional governorship candidates emerged in the state for the forthcoming election in the state.

“For a leader of an opposition party going into a crucial election with a ruling party, one begins to wonder what is actually motivating Ayu in carrying on the way he has been doing lately in the crisis in Osun.

“One is tempted to ask, Is Ayu working in favour of the ruling party to ensure PDP suffers defeat again? Or is he blinded so much by the alleged gratification he is getting from the Adeleke family to the point of not knowing what is right from what is wrong? Or is he actually a ‘cash and carry’ national chairman as a PDP Senator from the state had alleged?”

Stressing their fears further, the OPF said; “We are alarmed that if nothing is urgently done to stem the tide, the PDP may just have to forget about the forthcoming election, as we will surfer defeat at the polls, not because we do not have the capacity to win but because of Ayu’s unbridled biases and his inability to elevate the interest and good of the party above his personal interests.

“It is on record that disenchanted party men and women are already making plans to move enmass to other parties to seek relevance and pursue their ambitions, while others are spoiling for a showdown. Is that what Ayu wants?”.

For the group, the way of this current quagmire is that the founding fathers, Trustees of the party and other critical stakeholders, including governors elected on the platform of the party, urgently intervene and advice the National Chairman to retrace his steps before PDP goes to ruin in Osun State.

“We are calling on the founding fathers of the PDP, members of the Board of Trustees and PDP governors to urgently call Senator Ayu to order before it is too late in the day.

“It should be noted that it is not only the Osun governorship election that is at stake but the 2023 general elections, which the party may be actively working towards losing if nothing is done urgently”, the OPF warned.