BY DAPO AKINREFON

The opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP in Lagos State has for long sought to upstage the dominance of the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN in the politics of Lagos. At a time PDP was about getting its acts right, trouble has broken out in the fold. Is it a conspiracy or what?

It is an irony that at a time when it should have been building on the perceived foibles of the ruling Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN in Lagos State that the state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP is now thrusting into another major crisis.

Following its dismal performance during the April general elections, the PDP had sought to reinvent itself by building on the alleged infractions of many local government councils in the state by winning control of many councils.

However, the prospects of the party were dashed in the controversy that followed the delayed results of last October council elections. Many PDP chieftains alleged that the party was cheated of its victories in many chairmanship and councilor positions by the ACN government in cahoots with the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission, LASIEC.

The outcome and the controversy that followed the polls for some time tended to denigrate the image of the ACN which has in its different configurations controlled the State since 1999. First as the Alliance for Democracy, AD and then Action Congress, AC and presently ACN, the ruling party has been wholly dominant in the politics of the state giving the PDP no breathing space.

Not surprisingly, many leading PDP stakeholders have deserted the party for greener pastures in the ACN.

Remarkably, many of those remaining in the PDP for one reason or the other including what some allege to be the improbability of cohabiting with the ACN leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu have in seeming frustration turned the gauntlet on one another.

Bode George/ Ogunlewe

Two of the later are erstwhile Minister of Works, Senator Adeseye Ogunlewe who resigned from the AD as it was in 2002 for the PDP on whose platform he sought to become the Governor of Lagos in 2007; and erstwhile Chairman of the Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA, Chief Bode George.

Division in fold

The feud, by the party chieftains, has undoubtedly further polarised the party with the two major combatants set in their different positions attracting sympathizers and fellow aggrieved stakeholders to their different folds.

The Elders Council of the party which has joined the fray on the side of Ogunlewe has lampooned George, flaying him for his recent repeated denunciation of party elders in the Southwest zone.

Chairman of the Elders Council, Dr Abayomi Finnih, noted with displeasure the aspersions cast on the leadership of the party in the South- West by the former NPA chairman in some of his published interviews in some national dailies.

The council also alleged that he (George) had put together some members of the party in the South-West to destabilize the party in the zone and, therefore, warned such members to keep off affairs of the party in the zone and to rather focus on the problems confronting their state chapters of the party.

But rising in defence of George, the chairmen of the party at the local governments told Ogunlewe to shut up.

Ogunlewe had accused George of allegedly diverting an estimated N50 million meant for the party to organize the recent local government elections in the state.

In a reaction to Ogunlewe’s allegation, the local government party Chairmen’s Forum described the allegation as a tissue of lies.

Speaker of the Forum, Abayomi Kuye, in a statement, accused “Ogunlewe of not having any moral right to meet “George on issues bordering on party activities.”

According to the forum, “this statement by Ogunlewe therefore is a ruse and figment of his imagination, designed to rubbish and embarrass George and bring down the party from its current rising profile arising from the just concluded local government elections in the state.

Is oppostion the cause?

“We challenge Ogunlewe to tell the entire members of this party in Lagos State whether he took part at all in the elections and what he knows about the N50 million and how it came to Lagos. As a matter of clarity, the N50 million in question was personally sourced from Abuja by Gorge and on arrival in Lagos he handed over the money to the Chairman and Secretary of the party and the same money was consequently shared on the eve of the election in the presence of the local government chairmen and the chairmanship candidates without George touching a kobo.

Chairmanship tussle

There have been concerted efforts by the South-west leadership of the party to douse the tension already being generated by the rift.

Aside this, Ogunlewe, in an interview, had accused George of allegedly being responsible for the dwindling fortunes of the party, especially its loss at the last governorship election in the state.

He argued that “He (George) wants to drive everybody out of the party, so that he can remain there. He drove Demola Seriki and ten other prominent members of the party. It is a distraction. He is not in a position to determine who is a member of the party. He is a sinking man.”

But in a swift reaction, Chief George alleged that Senator Ogunlewe was not a member of the PDP but the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) adding “I accepted him into the party and all his followers then were either commissioners or special advisers in the ACN government in the state.”

Nevertheless, pundits are of the view that the crisis goes beyond this as it is alleged that Ogunlewe and George are involved in a game of political intrigues around the future of the party in the state.

Ogunlewe has already indicated interest in becoming the next state chairman of the party in the state a bid that George is believed to be seriously opposed to. George is known to be in total control of the state executive, a mould Ogunlewe would probably not fit into.

While calling for restraint, a former gubernatorial aspirant, Chief Sunbo Onitiri expressed displeasure over rift.

The party chieftain also argued that the crisis, if unresolved, will further affect the fortunes of the party.

Onitiri, who spoke with Vanguard, urged party stalwarts to sheathe their swords in the interest of the party.

He said, “this is very bad and sad. The two leaders should think more of moving the party forward rather than destroying what remains of the party. In the interest of the party and our numerous followers, the two leaders should sheathe their swords.

The fight has further damaged the little chance to salvage what remains to win some seats in the local government election. The national party should intervene and save Lagos PDP from total collapse.”