Osun 2018: Genuine reconciliation critical to PDP’s victory ―Oladipo

AS political parties prepares for the conduct of 2018 governorship poll in Osun, the immediate past national secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Professor Wale Oladipo has said only a genuine reconciliation among members of the party can guarantee the PDP’s electoral victory during the election.

Towards this end, he tasked the party’s leaders to immediately set in motion machinery that would pave way for the sincere harmonisation of the two factions of the party in Osun and also placate aggrieved members of the PDP.

Addressing journalists in Ile-Ife, shortly after being received by his supporters and loyalists after his exit as the national secretary of the PDP in party’s secretariat in Abuja, Oladipo said “it is germane to reconcile members’ differences and ensure that the party present candidate without albatross to contest for the next year governorship election in the state”.

According to him, “only a candidate that is “sellable” and devoid of albatross could defeat the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) just like Senator Ademola Adeleke floored the candidate of the APC in the recently held Osun West By-election, Senator Mudashiru Hussain.

Oladipo recalled that with APC polling 66,000 votes in the by election and  the PDP winning with 97,000 votes was a strong indicator that the PDP needed to reconcile its differences and redouble its efforts in order to emerge victorious in the next year governorship poll.

He said, “I exited Wadata House as the national secretary of the PDP with joy and the only project I have now is to make sure we carry out all necessary reconciliation so that this party will win the governorship election next year. That is the commitment I am making between myself and the good people of Osun state. We understand the pervading hunger and the misplaced priorities they are being subjected to by the APC government”

“We will make sure we present an electable candidate who will carry no albatross; a candidate who can easily win election just the way Ademola Adeleke won the senatorial by-election. I will contribute to rebuilding and rebranding the party. I am calling on the people presently saddled with managing our party to reconcile everybody because their votes must count.

On the judgement delivered by the Supreme Court in favour of Markafi, Oladipo said, “the Supreme Court is supreme even though only God is supreme; but by nomenclature, that is the highest court of the land

“Whether you like the judgement or not is immaterial, the simple fact of it is that a judgment had been given, certain group of people are saddled with managing the affairs of our party and we have all agreed to work together so that come 2019, Nigerians can rejoice”, he stated.

While describing as total falsehood speculation that he was planning to contest in the 2018 governorship election in Osun, Oladipo declared that “at a point in time, I was in direct control of more than 20 PDP governors from my office in Abuja; as we speak now, the eleven PDP governors that are serving right now, I signed their forms to INEC. I have been the national secretary of this party, so, I don’t think there is a comparison between national secretary of PDP and being governor of Osun state. It is out of it”.

“But I will show very close interest in who becomes the governor of this state for two reasons. One, I want the progress of Osun state; we want somebody who will not mortgage the future of this generation and the interest of the incoming generation, somebody who will make PDP popular again by performing very well; a home grown governor, not an imported governor”, he posited.