No controversy in Osun PDP as I remain the authentic chairman ―Faforiji

THE seeming confusion generated over who is in charge of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Osun following the recent Supreme Court judgment that affirmed Senator Ahmed Makarfi as the national chairman of the caretaker committee deepened over the weekend as Dr Bayo Faforiji declared that “I remain the authentic chairman of the party in the state”.

He said it was wrong and misleading for anybody else to lay claim to the chairmanship position, contending that “as a follow up to the victory of Makarfi in the Supreme Court, I Dr Bayo Faforiji is the authentic chairman of the PDP in Osun State”.

Speaking during an interview with the Nigerian Tribune, shortly after the stakeholders meeting of the party over the weekend in Osogbo, he maintained that my invitation to the National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of the PDP, which was held on the 18th of July, at Wadata Plaza, Abuja attested to the fact that I am the Osun State chairman of our great party”.

According to Faforiji, “I was invited and accredited to partake in the NEC meeting as the chairman of the PDP in Osun. I believe that as a result of that, the party in Osun is no longer divided, with only one secretariat in Ogo Oluwa, Osogbo, here and all the members are under the umbrella of the executive committee led by me”.

On the insinuation that he was not allowed into the NEC meeting in Abuja, he stated that “I know for sure that Hon Soji Adagunodo was not invited to that meeting. I was duly invited and I attended that meeting. If any other person claims that he attended the meeting, let such person show evidence to that effect”.

Faforiji continued, “if you look at the list of the state chairmen brought to that meeting and displayed on social media, you will discover that under Osun State, it is the name of Dr Bayo Faforiji that was there. There is no controversy at all. I was invited, accredited and participated in the meeting. At the end of the meeting, I addressed the national chairman, Senator Ahmed Makarfi and he told us that in South West, we may have some few skirmishes, which the NEC and National Working Committee (NWC) would look into”.

When asked that one of the Board of Trustees (BoT) members, Alhaji Shuaib Oyedokun raised an objection during the Abuja meeting when he was recognised as the chairman of the PDP in Osun, he responded thus, “he (Oyedokun) actually raised an objection and the NEC said they were going to look into it. The fact remains that I was invited and accredited as the chairman and I remain the chairman”.

But, another factional chairman of the party in Osun State, Hon Soji Adagunodo described the claim of Faforiji as unfounded and baseless, arguing he (Faforiji) did not emerge as the PDP chairman through a congress as stipulated by the party’s guidelines.

He  said, “anytime  Dr. Faforiji says he is the chairman, what you should ask him is to tell you the congress which produced him. This is a political party and things cannot be done anyhow, the party has constitution and there are laws governing activities of political parties. If he can lay claim to the chairmanship of the party, then anybody can wake up and also say he is the chairman of the PDP, because there was no congress which produced him and that is wrong”.