As different voices inside the party publicly repeated their viewpoints on the party’s structure and political direction ahead of the upcoming governorship race, new information regarding the leadership crisis shakening the PDP’s Osun State chapter have surfaced.
The status of Sunday Bisi, the state chairman, who denied rumors that he had been ousted from office, is at the heart of the conflict.
A stakeholders’ forum’s announcement of his alleged expulsion, according to Bisi, was unconstitutional and ineffective.
Speaking to reporters in Osogbo on Thursday, Bisi insisted that his term as the state’s legitimately elected party chairman is still in effect.
“The forum does not have the authority or mandate to alter or abolish the party’s elected structures. “I’m still the chairman,” he declared.
He maintained that decisions impacting elected officials could only be made by the party’s duly formed institutions operating within the parameters of its constitution.
PDP Supports Adeleke
Bisi revealed that the PDP in Osun had supported Governor Ademola Adeleke for reelection rather than putting forward a candidate for the August governorship election.
The PDP has supported Governor Ademola Adeleke for reelection because it does not have a candidate for the August gubernatorial election. He said, “That is the reality of the situation.
Bisi stated that the majority of the state’s elected politicians were still PDP members, although acknowledging conflicts within the party.
“The PDP still includes our elected politicians, with the exception of the governor and deputy governor. Since our party does not have a candidate, we have endorsed Governor Adeleke,” he continued.
Reaction to Oyinlola’s Remarks
The chairman also addressed comments ascribed to Olagunsoye Oyinlola, the previous governor, stating that they were incompatible with what he called the mainstream structure of the Osun party.
A failed 2022 conspiracy to stop Governor Adeleke was continued in the statement attributed to former Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola, Bisi claimed, and it is an open treachery.
He clarified that the governor’s political future was uncertain due to internal PDP differences at the national level, which led to some strategic choices.
“Our governor’s candidacy was in jeopardy because to the rift within the PDP national leadership. The governor did the right thing by looking for a reelection platform. He even claimed that Prince Oyinlola was the first to propose this idea.
Bisi said that the party’s core leadership and Osun membership base continued to support the existing state executive and its rulings.
“The governor, our leadership, and our elected mandate as state officers are supported by the mainstream of the Osun PDP and cannot be shortened by any unelected, unlawful, or unauthorized group,” he said.
Earlier, Oyinlola insisted that the PDP was still a strong political force in the state in spite of rumors that Governor Adeleke had defected to the Accord Party during a different stakeholders’ conference in Osogbo.
He claimed that the purpose of the meeting was to provide clarification on events within the party at the state and national levels.
According to Oyinlola, “there have been some confusing narratives being pushed out about the status of PDP, especially in Osun State. What we have done today is narrate situations as they are to our members, so that the entire wards and local governments in Osun will know exactly where PDP stands today in Osun State.”
The former governor refuted allegations that the state’s PDP structure had been dismantled to create the Accord Party in order to support Adeleke’s reelection.
The PDP is a party that has a presence throughout the entire nation. We will not let it perish in our own time,” he declared.
He went on to say that the party was still receptive to new political events.
“We are clinging to PDP.” “Our governor is welcome to return and join his family in the PDP tomorrow, but for the time being, the PDP is leading Osun State,” Oyinlola said.
