Makinde says PDP in “difficult situation” in Osun
Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State has said his party, the Peoples Democratic Party,PDP, is facing a “difficult situation” in Osun State ahead of the governorship poll in June.
He stated this in his welcome address at the PDP Southwest caucus meeting.
Makinde alluded to the parallel primaries, held by two factions of the party.
One of the factions, which is being backed by the party’s national officers, produced Senator Ademola Adeleke. Adeleke, as the PDP flagbearer in 2018, lost to the incumbent, Gboyega Oyetola.
The other faction, backed by some PDP elders including former Osun governor, Olagunsoye Oyinlola, produced Dotun Babayemi as its governorship candidate.
Speaking on the chances of the PDP to retake the two states, Makinde urged cooperation among party faithful.
He stated, “Ondo State governorship election is coming back in another two years. But before then, we have the Ekiti governorship election coming up. We thank God that we have been able to get everybody together, but there is still a lot of work to be done if Ekiti will not go the way of Ondo.
“I do pray, because I know we have another opportunity to support our candidate in Ekiti State, so that in two months plus, we will have a governor-elect in the state.
“We also have Osun State, which practically is in a difficult situation.
“They have issues from the governorship primary, which is not supposed to be. The South-West is known as the zone to provide leadership for this country.
“Truth is, we are going to be the ultimate losers and what happened in the past will happen again if we don’t get our acts together,” said Makinde.
On the disagreement among members on which zone should produce the party’s presidential candidate, Makinde said: “I make bold to say that those aspiring for the presidency and are using our people against us”
The PDP has faced sharp disagreement among its leaders on which part of the country will produce the next president.
The current president, Muhammadu Buhari, is from Nigeria’s northern region and, based on the unofficial power rotation, his successor is expected to be a southerner.
Makinde, in what seemed his reference to northern aspirants insisting one of them must emerge the presidential candidate, said: “You can force yourself to win the party’s primary, but can you force yourself on the populace?”
At the end of its meeting, the southwest PDP caucus affirmed in a communique that it would only back a southern presidential candidate in 2023.
