Moshood Adebayo
For Prince Lekan Tejuoso, a chieftain of the embattled Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP) in Ogun State, the party stands a better chance of bouncing back to power in 2023, if only it could settle its internal wranglings. The former commissioner for Community Development and Co-operatives spoke against the backdrop of the last state congress of the party, which he described as a charade:
While admitting that the tenure of the Bayo Dayo-led administration ended last week, he added that no state congress could be conducted without the involvement of the national working committee of the party.
“The PDP Original in Ogun State as far as I’m concerned has not conducted its congress because. We believe it is the NWC of the party that will dictate when such a congress will hold according to the guidelines of the party.
“Those who claimed they have conducted a congress in Ogun State are not sincere. There is no state that has the singular power or authority to conduct congresses on its own without the involvement of the NWC and the INEC supervising it.
“The so-called congresses were neither conducted by the NWC of our party or supervised by the INEC. So, such a charade congresses will not stand the test of time because it did not follow the guidelines of the PDP but also not known to the national headquarters of the party.
“I have always been a consistent politician and I will remain so because I do not like jumping ship. When PDP was good we were there together. If the party has problem as the case now, the best thing for us as dedicated and committed members is not to desert it, but find an amicable solution to the problem. However, it must not be where illegality is the order of the day.
“For PDP to be relevant and return to its winning-streak again in Ogun State, its members must respect its constitution to the letter. It must not under any circumstance allow anyone or group, no matter how powerful, influential or rich they may be to direct the affairs of the party. The recent congress of the party and inauguration of the purported state executive members was nothing but a charade and Illegal, which must be condemned by all lovers of democracy.
“The crisis persists because of the desperate desire of some members to have the control of the party that often led to frictions among them in the past. The few members do not have clean heart of reconciliation as they claimed and that’s why the problem is still lingering.
“A good party member will always abide by the decision of the party no matter what. As long as we have those that can be described as fifth columnists among us, we will continue to have problem as we are currently having.
“However, whoever wants to draw us back now will be shown the way out as the new national leadership does not condone anti-party activities. Unlike in the past, PDP is now moving towards a good journey, whoever wants to draw it backward will be shown the way out by the party both at the state and at the national headquarters.”