BY GBENGA OLARINOYE
Since the defeat of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Osun state roundly by the main rival political party, Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in the last general elections, the PDP has not been able to find its feet in the state. And now that all hopes seem to have been lost of political appointments in the ACN government in the state, the only hope left for the party is to look up to the federal government for political patronage.

When the opportunity eventually came calling through the directives that the PDP in each of the 36 states of the federation should forward 10 names to the presidency for political appointments, everybody in the party was eager to be on the list.

It should be noted that before the abrupt termination of Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola’s administration on November 27 last year when the court of appeal judgment in Ibadan pronounced Mr Rauf Aregbesola as the authentic winner of the April 14, 2007 Governorship election, the administration of Oyinlola paraded arguably the largest collection of political appointees in the country. Since the submission of the ministerial list, the crisis within the PDP in Osun state has been on the increase as most of the names contained in the list were contested by some members of the party who queried the rationale behind the compilation of the list and the

factors responsible for such action. Check the list. Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, a former Military Administrator of Lagos state and the immediate past Governor of the state who was also the party’s Senatorial candidate for Osun central in the last election, his deputy while in office as Governor, Erelu

Olusola Obada, senator Iyiola Omisore, a former Deputy Governor of the state and a two term senator and chairman of the powerful appropriation committee, senator Isiaka Adeleke, the first Civilian

Governor of the state and a serving senator and Alhaji Shuaib Oyedokun, a former Secretary to the state government in the old Oyo state and former Deputy National Chairman (South) of the party.

Others are Mrs Olubunmi Etheh, a three term member of the House of Representatives and former speaker of the House of Representatives, Alhaji Kazeem Adio, a former Commissioner and the immediate past Secretary to the State Government under Oyinlola’s administration, Dr Oluwole Alabi, a former Commissioner in the old Oyo state and current Chairman of the Governing Council of the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) Ile-Ife, Dr Yemi Farounbi, the immediate past Chairman of the

Osun state Broadcasting Corporation (OSBC) Board of Directors and Prince Francis Fadahunsi a retired Assistant Comptroller of Customs. Apart from Prince Fadahunsi, the other nine members on the list that at one time or the other had either held political appointments or elective appointments. This situation is unacceptable to the majority of the party members who are of the belief that there is the need for the party to allow others in the state to also have a bite of the cake.

One of such groups which goes by the name “Osun PDP rebirth group” in a recent statement warned that “no nomination for any political party or party office should be forwarded to any quarter from Osun state without exhaustive deliberations and inputs of all major stakeholders in Osun state PDP.”

The group in a letter titled “Let’s begin the rebuilding: Our immediate demands” addressed to Alhaji Shuaib Oyedokun, the Chairman PDP elders forum in the state suggested that the State Working Committee should be dissolved forthwith and be replaced with an interim management committee made up of credible people, saying that is the only means of preventing an imminent mass defection of

party members to other political parties. The letter read in part “Whereas the fortune of the Peoples Democratic Party in Osun state has been terribly and negatively affected by years of despotic leadership, corruption, lack of vision, parochialism and neglect of democratic values by the state working committee and the state executive council of the party; and whereas there has been an apparent breakdown of harmony, solidarity and oneness of purpose in the party organs in the state in the last couple of years; and whereas all efforts of well meaning individuals and  groups to rescue the

party from destruction through civil/democratic means had up till now been frustrated by entrenched anti progressive elements in the top echelon of the party; and whereas the results of the just concluded general elections in Osun state has proven beyond all reasonable doubts that there is a need for a fundamental overhauling of the PDP in Osun state if the party will regain its relevance as a vehicle for democratic participation in the political governance of Osun state.” Similarly, another splinter group in the state PDP “Zero to Hero Group” which rose from an emergency meeting recently advised President

Goodluck Jonathan to shun the list containing names of some leaders of the party in the state aspiring for federal political appointments in his cabinet. The group, comprising aspirants and candidates of the

party for the House of Representatives and other stakeholders, lamented that state executive of the Osun PDP had been hijacked by the leaders with total disregard for those who spent so much to keep the flag of the PDP flying in the face of stiff competition with the ruling Action Congress of Nigeria.

“It is unfortunate that mismanagement of resources and lack of internal democracy within the party by the so called leaders has led to our poor performance at the last April general elections. Yet, these elders have the guts to plot to shove aside those, who had through their sweat and resources, sustained the name of the party in the state.

The group explained that “despite the fact that we know that the PDP has a problem in Osun State, we are willing to take the party from the abyss of defeat to the pinnacle of political success very soon. We are not going to abandon the PDP but we are determined to reconstruct the party all over again. The appointment list forwarded by the state executive shows that names of young and upwardly mobile PDP members were not contained in the list to Abuja. We in Zero to Hero Group form the kernel of the financiers of the party because we contributed over 80 percent of the N700 million collected from aspirants by the state executive. “It is alarming that the names of these people who failed to deliver

the parliamentary and presidential elections in Osun were forwarded to the Presidency for appointments. The list should include young, progressive PDP elements possessing proven competence and integrity.”  Also, some leaders and stakeholders of PDP in all the thirty local government areas of Osun State have rejected the list of potential nominees for federal appointment purportedly forwarded by the state working committee of the party.  They demanded that whosoever is nominated by leaders and stakeholders of the party in the state must possess unassailable political and social credentials.

According to the group such appointees must be of people of high integrity, humane, humble and be accessible to the party and have grassroots acceptability, adding that the “National Working Committee of PDP should set up new state working committee to oversee the affairs of the Osun PDP before the next congress and should form a truth and reconciliation committee which will re-build the party from the ward to state levels to re-kindle public confidence in the party in Osun State”.

Similarly, a member of the Board of Elders of the PDP in the state, Chief Abiola Ogundokun kicked against the inclusion of the immediate past governor of the state, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola on the list saying that the former governor did not deserve it. According to him, Oyinlola who was a one time military administrator of Lagos State and two term governor of Osun State before the Appeal court in Ibadan nullified his election in November last year had had enough of political patronage in the past.

He alleged that the former governor worked against the success of President Goodluck Jonathan both at the party primary and last month presidential election., saying he has no moral justification to present anybody for federal appointment not to talk of presenting himself since he had worked against the interest of President Goodluck Jonathan. He added that the grouse of Oyinlola against Jonathan was the latter’s firm belief in the rule of law by not interfering with the judgment that ousted Oyinlola at the Appeal court.