Ondo PDP crisis deepens as Wike-backed faction installs parallel executives
…faction elects Ogungbuji as chairman, 32 other executive …as rival camp rejects congress, calls process illegal amid fresh leadership tussle in opposition party. From Tosin Tope, Akure The leadership crisis
...faction elects Ogungbuji as chairman, 32 other executive
...as rival camp rejects congress, calls process illegal amid fresh leadership tussle in opposition party.
From Tosin Tope, Akure
The leadership crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) escalated in Ondo State on Wednesday, as a faction aligned with the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, announced a new set of state executive council members.
The development further plunged the opposition party into turmoil, with the faction electing Olaniyi Ogungbuji as chairman during what it described as a “consensus congress” held in Akure, the state capital.
Other officials elected at the congress include Akinwamide Adedeji as State Deputy Chairman; Yagba Timilehin as State Secretary; Alake Joseph Olumuyiwa as State Treasurer; Barrister Clement Adefemi as State Legal Adviser; Akintemi Akinduyite as State Financial Secretary; and Sadiq Fatai as State Publicity Secretary, alongside 32 other executive members.
The latest move comes amid a protracted leadership tussle within the PDP, further compounded by a recent Court of Appeal judgment that nullified the party’s November 15 and 16 national convention in Ibadan, where Tanimu Turaki (SAN) had emerged as national chairman.
In defiance of the ruling, the Wike-backed faction has fixed a parallel national convention for March 28 in Abuja, having earlier conducted ward, zonal and state congresses across the country.
Speaking after his emergence, Ogungbuji called for unity among party members in Ondo State, urging stakeholders to set aside differences in the interest of rebuilding the party.
He also pledged to reposition the PDP ahead of the 2027 general elections, vowing to commence aggressive mobilisation efforts across the state.
"Unity is key and we must work together as one family to move the party forward in order to achieve meaningful results in the 2027 elections," Ogungbuji said.
Earlier, the Wike-backed faction chairman of the Congress Committee, who identified himself as Adebiyi Abiodun-Philips said the exercise was peaceful and conducted under tight security.
Abiodun-Philips, who claimed that the congress was supervised by a seven-member delegation of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), disagreed over any 'internal divisions' within the party.
He noted that reconciliation efforts at the national level had helped to stabilise the party, insisting that "there is no faction in PDP again."
"This is a time for us to come together as one family to work for the interest of the party, not personal interests.
"The door is open for everyone, including those who left for other parties. We must continue the work of rebuilding the PDP,"Abiodun-Philips said.
However, the recognised state leadership of the party rejected the exercise.
The state chairman, Dupe Aisida, described the parallel executives as illegitimate and their emergence as unlawful.
Aisida described Ogungbuji and other newly faction executives council of the party as "a handful of confused and misguided elements" masquerading as members of the PDP in the state.
He added that Mr Ogungbuji, who purportedly emerged at the Wike-backed faction of the party's state congress, had been suspended indefinitely at his ward over alleged gross misconduct and anti-party activities.
"It is even more ironic that one of the arrowheads of this unlawful adventure, the individual being paraded as the so-called Chairman of the purported State Caretaker Committee, has reportedly been suspended indefinitely by his own Ward over gross misconduct and anti-party activities.
"So, the PDP in Ondo state is not available for hijack by political opportunists and agents of destabilisation. Our party in the State has a history, a structure and a constitutional foundation that cannot be overturned by propaganda, impunity or illegality," he said.
