Crisis brews in Ekiti PDP as some members demand change in leadership

CRISIS is looming in the Ekiti State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as some members of the party has risen against the current members of its executive committee in the State.

It was gathered that a former secretary of the party in the State, Dr Tope Aluko, had led some aggrieved members to the secretariat to demand the removal of the current state working committee members led by Chief Gboyega Oguntuwase.

Aluko was said to have claimed that he led the action as a way of salvaging the party and save it from collapse.

According to Aluko, concerned members of the PDP in Ekiti were of the opinion that they should lock up the secretariat and re-strategise ahead of the 2019 general election.

He said: “We already have some aggrieved members following the imposition in the last primaries of the party and we are worried as we are concerned stakeholders.

“We are here today to lock up the party secretariat, not because of anything, but because of some alleged nefarious and fraudulent activities among our members. After the exit of our leader, Dr Ayodele Fayose, we found out that the National Working Committee has not been responsible to the issues on ground.

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“We are carrying out this action after consultation with some leaders of the party and they gave us the mandate to go ahead until there is further directives of the party leadership.”

However, Chief Oguntuwase and the publicity secretary of the party, in reaction, said they were the ones that invited the police when suspected hoodlums allegedly made to invade the party’s secretariat, life and property.

Oguntuwase claimed that the alleged invasion did not come as a surprise because, according to him, “Aluko had been issuing out threats of invasion.”

Speaking on the development, Adebayo said: “As far as I’m concerned, Aluko is an expelled member of our party and he is not qualified to query, question, or throw a challenge on how we run our party in Ekiti.”

However, the intervention of the police saved the day as they evacuated the secretariat and locked it up.

However, the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Mr Caleb Ikechukwu, when contacted, said he had not been briefed about the matter.

Ikechukwu explained that the police however would “always move in to forestall breakdown of law and order even without an invitation.”

A statement by the National Publicity Secretary of PDP, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, said the party “condemned in strong terms, the invasion of the secretariat.”

Ologbodiyan said: “The party vowed to investigate the invasion with a view to exposing and sanctioning anyone found to be involved directly or indirectly in the disruption of the smooth running of its activities in Ekiti.

“The National Working Committee of the party reiterated its confidence in Oguntuase-led Executives and urged members in the State to avoid anyone fanning embers of discord in our fold.”

The party also called on the police to assist in fishing out and arresting the hoodlums that invaded the secretariat as well as secure the premises against further invasion.