By Funmi Olusanya
The abysmal performance of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the last Saturday’s Governorship Election in Anambra State has moved members of the party in Osun State to reiterate the call for unity ahead of the 2018 Gubernatorial election in the State.
Recall that earlier this month, fight broke out between the supporters of the two factions of the Peoples Democratic Party in Osun State over the alleged manipulation of the process and result of congresses held in some wards in the state.
There has been allegations and counter-allegations from the two major camp vying for the State leadership, the Adagunodo and the Faforiji camp respectively. The failure of the National Leadership and the Caretaker Committee to conduct a hitch-free congress in the State is also affecting the participation of the party in the forthcoming Local Government polls in the State.
Leading the call for unity was a two-time Speaker of the Osun State House of Assembly and 2018 Guber Aspirant, Hon. Adejare Bello, he said the result shows that the party must learn from its past mistakes for future purposes.
In his own remarks, another Governorship Aspirant, Dr. Kayode Oduoye, in a release made exclusively to our medium said ”the the unsuccessful outing of the party/PDP in the just concluded gubernatorial election in Anambra is also a clear pointer to the reality of the fact that we still have a lot to do with ensuring a truthful and sincere harmonious unity within the party. The dynamics adopted in the process for picking the party’s candidate resulted in breaking the fragile unity that existed within the party, which led to thousands of members defecting to APGA (and voting for APGA as well).
What just happened in Anambra gubernatorial election is another lesson for us in Osun PDP. This has been noted! We will get it right and I can assure you that we will avoid those pitfalls that befell others. Our process for a lasting unity is ongoing. I assure you that we will not disappoint or dash the hopes of the masses and party members in this regard. I appeal for patience and prayers till we see the safe birth of a new, united and stronger PDP in Osun soon.”
Furthermore, a new entrant into the Governorship race, Alhaji Ademola Adebayo (ROVET), in his own words said ”we need to be more prepared in Osun. We need do away with all these in fighting we are having and have enough time to sensitize the citizen of Osun. We don’t have enough time before the election.”
While reacting to the performance of the party in the Anambra Polls, Mr. Ojo Abiodun Fafa, who stressed that the Osun election will be different from Anambra but cautioned that the only way the party can avoid that is non-imposition of candidates no matter how credible or rich you are.
However, with a contrary opinion, a Youth Leader and Social Commentator, Mr. Segun Adebiyi, popurlarly known as Akoni, called for more youth inclusion in the helms of the party leadership, he said ”It is a sign that all isn’t well with the PDP as a party and not some state chapters as the citizenry is made to believe. The party needs all old players to take the back seat both in the affairs of the party and subsequent general elections. The party needs new faces at all levels to achieve any success as the main opposition party. ”