The factional crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the South West took a new twist on Monday as 7 of its zonal caretaker committee members announced the suspension of their chairman, Mr Dayo Ogungbenro.
Announcing the suspension of the zonal Chairman after a meeting attended by 7 of the 12 man caretaker Committee in Ibadan, the Chairman was accused of alleged “negligence of duty”.
According to the 7 members of the caretaker committee specifically accused the zonal chairman of failing ” to call any meeting since he was appointed.”
“The Chairman, Dayo Ogungbenro, had abdicated his responsibilities. He has not called any meeting since the Caretaker Committee was appointed, thus making the party to lack direction. Even when we had elections in Ondo and Lagos States, the Chairman did not call any meeting to plan for the elections, hence the abysmal performance of the party”, it said.
They further asked the PDP National Working Committee (NWC) to appoint another “Chairman, who will be alive to his duties to pilot the affairs of the party in the zone pending the conduct of the zonal congress”.
On the reconciliation team set up by the Gov Seyi Makinde led faction of the party headed by the former governor of Osun state, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, the caretaker committee members declared that the said reconciliation committee was not known to the party.
“To the best of our knowledge, Prince Oyinlola only accepted to run political errand for Governor Seyi Makinde. His so-called reconciliation committee is not only self-serving, but represents personal interest and dead on arrival”, it said.
The committee added, “as far as we are concerned, the former governor, being a defector from the APC, is on his own because no one can be a judge in his own case”.
Also, the 7 members of the PDP Zonal Caretaker committee in a bid for the party to have effective media and publicity, announced the appointment of former Media aide to the immediate past governor of Ekiti State, Mr Ayo Fayose ,Mr. Lere Olayinka as spokesperson for the PDP in the South West zone.
