Oyo PDP congress inconclusive -Committee

Contrary to claims that the National Working Committee (NWC) of the Peoples' Democratic Party, (PDP) has given its blessings to the party congresses that produced the new executive of the party in Oyo State, Daily Sun can authoritatively reveal that the fate of the Chief Dejo Afolabi-led executive hangs in the balance.

This is because the party's national secretariat may soon take a decisive position on harmonisation of factions in the state chapter of the party in line with the recommendation of the Ambassador Ladan Shuni-led five-man committee sent to Oyo State to observe the PDP congresses in the state .

A copy of the report of the PDP special committee, which observed the party congress in Oyo State between December 29 and 31, 2010 and obtained exclusively by Daily Sun, revealed that the committee came to the conclusion that the exercise was inconclusive as the various factions held parallel congresses and it was marred by violence.

Members of the five-man committee were Ambassador Ladan Shuni and Barrister Charles Manah who served as chairman and secretary, respectively. Other members were Alhaji Muhammed Wuhu Umar, Alhaji Maisule Gorgaram and Prince Ibrahim Yakubu.

The committee, on pages three and four of its report, noted that efforts to make all the factions in Oyo State to agree to a congress fell on deaf ears, as none of the factions was willing to attend a stakeholders' meeting called by the special committee.

'The committee planned for a stakeholders' meeting to plan for the congresses acceptable to all factions. The meeting became impossible because neither the governor nor the factional leaders would want to meet one another.

'There was a deadlock as the governor could not meet with the factional leaders outside the government lodge or Government House and the factional leaders would not want to meet with the governor in the State House or Government lodge .

'We later discovered that all factions, including the governor's factions, had conducted congresses differently and in various wards and Local Government Areas. We also discovered that all the other factions joined forces while Governor Akala's faction conducted separate congresses.

'In view of the need to effectively monitor and confirm the parallel congresses we broke into three groups, for that purpose and we eventually confirmed that parallel congresses were conducted by all the factions.'

The five-man committee further made a startling revelation that it shunned the congress organised by loyalists of the Oyo State Governor, Otunba Alao-Akala, which produced the Chief Dejo Afolabi executive, because of the state of uncertainty that pervaded the state, following the death of Eleweomo.

The committee recommendedto the PDP NWC, to harmonise all the results of wards and local government congresses conducted by all factions to produce acceptable delegates for the State congress in a neutral ground, outside Oyo State.''