Kenneth Afor
Doyin Okupe, a former special assistant to ex-president Olusegun Obasanjo, has said Seyi Makinde, Governor of Oyo State, made a mistake in his attempt to establish his control of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the South-West region.
In a series of tweets on Sunday ahead of the party’s South-West congress scheduled for Monday, April 12, Okupe warned that Makinde’s move will destabilize the established state party structures.
Since it lost power to the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2015 presidential election, the PDP has witnessed a deluge of its key members leaving the party, which prompted prominent members in the party to embark on a reconciliatory mission ahead of the 2023 general elections.
Recently, there has been a political tussle between Governor Makinde and Ayodele Fayose, a former governor of Ekiti State over the leadership of the party in the South West.
However, the Bukola Saraki-led reconciliation committee could not bring both parties on the same page.
But, Okupe in his tweets, insisted that the move to reconcile the two political giants in the party in the region is an impossible task as long as they are both fighting for the leadership of the party in the region, adding that they are not qualified for the position.
He wrote: “The die is cast and barring a Divine intervention, an amicable settlement between Governor Makinde and former Governor Fayose, is an impossibility. Several attempts have been made by leaders and elders at the zonal level.
“Efforts were also made directly by the national secretariat and indirectly by the indefatigable Bukola Saraki’s reconciliation committee. All to no avail. This in itself is a strange phenomenon.”
“Governor Seyi Makinde and Fayose are contending the leadership of the party in the southwest. A position which neither of them is qualified to hold, but for aberrant development in our polity.
“It was former President Obasanjo, who because he did not want his administration to be bogged down with petty issues from the states, empowered the state governors to be leaders of the party in their respective states and zones.
“This was a privilege enjoyed by former Governor Fayose to the fullest in his time. And until the proviso is annulled Governor Makinde ought to have the honour of being the official leader of the party in the SW currently. This “proviso” though an obvious absurdity, still stands.
“I call it an absurdity because it will be unthinkable for example, for a Governor Sanwoolu of Lagos to say he is leader of APC in Lagos, official or unofficial. But let’s rest this argument here.
“As for Governor Makinde, his attempts to destabilise established state party structures in order to establish his control and leadership, is wrong and this has created unnecessary enemies for him within the zone even among those who were not opposed to his leadership.”
Okupe. however, predicted that the outcome of the congress on Monday will cause a permanent separation of the party in the South-West region.
“In tomorrow’s congress, there will be no real winners. The outcome of tomorrow’s congress will cause a permanent schism in the SW PDP which may seriously affect the future of the party adversely in the zone in the nearest future.
“We as a people always refuse to learn from history. The dichotomy and lack of consensus in Yoruba land today can be traced to the sowing of the seed of discord during the Awolowo/Akintola conflict.
“But those who fail to learn from history will themselves become lessons in history. And as the saying goes: “those who the gods must destroy, will firstly be made mad.
“THOSE WHO HAVE EARS LET THEM HEAR,” he wrote.
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