Makinde Should Fold His Presidential Ambition, We Can’t Use Him To Defeat Tinubu
A member of the Wike-led group and Deputy National Youth Leader of the PDP, Timothy Osadolor, accused Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, of aiding the crisis in the party because of his rumoured 2027 presidential ambition.
While insisting that any convention without reconciliation of the aggrieved party members would further fracture the PDP, Osadolor urged Makinde to put the party first before his personal ambition.
In an interview with The Punch, he said, “How can they even be talking about a presidential candidate from the South West when the one we want to kick out is from the South West? Governor Makinde should help this party by folding his presidential ambition in his pocket and join other leaders to rebuild the PDP.
“It is both laughable and mischievous for some people to be talking about convention in Ibadan as PDP members. Whatever they are going to do in Ibadan would be an early Christmas party organised by Governor Makinde and his friends in the PDP. It is certainly not a PDP national convention.
“Anybody who wants to talk about convention now must first talk about reconciliation in line with the judgment of Justice James Omotosho, which asked us to put our house in order. That ruling not only exposed our failing as a party but also directed us to back to our books and rules. If you cannot follow your own rules, how can you convince the voting public that you will abide by the provisions of the 1999 Constitution (as amended)? It is arrogance for the PDP governors to be talking about a convention in Ibadan.”
Reminded that a chieftain of the party, Bode George, last week stated that Anyanwu lacked the powers to suspend Damagum, having been suspended himself, Osadolor added, “Bode George is over 80. He is no longer conversant with some of these things we are talking about. He should learn to expand this conversation more and not be partisan.
“He is a member of the BoT who ought to be the conscience of the party, and he should be above board. As an elder statesman and a father figure within the party, I expect Bode George to be playing a reconciliatory role now. He should not take sides. The house is divided, and as a good father, it is wrong to have a favourite child,” he said.
If the right thing is not done, Osadolor warned that the PDP may have itself to blame.
“Whether we like it or not, we are playing into an interregnum, which may lead to an automatic extension of the NWC led by Abdulrahman Mohammed or the party may have no leadership.
“The Mohammed-led leadership is focused on rescuing this party from saboteurs, men who are consumed by their presidential ambition. They forget that there must be a party first before one can contest an election to any office in the land.”
He rejected insinuations in some quarters that Wike was intentionally weakening the PDP to pave the way for the re-election of President Bola Tinubu in 2027.
“Is it Wike that has fixed an early Christmas party in Ibadan? Is it the FCT minister who is going about suspending leaders of the party? Is it Wike who said congresses should not hold in Anambra and Ebonyi States?
“Is he the one who said zonal congresses of the South East should not be held? You see, when you want to kill a dog, you first give it a bad name. Nobody should come here and vilify Wike. He is not the problem of the party,” Osadolor said.
