South West PDP rejects national chairmanship

Ahead of the Peoples Democratic Party’s May
21 national convention, the South-West chapter
of the party on Thursday declared its support for
the North to retain the PDP’s national
chairmanship position.

Leaders from the zone told the National
Chairman of the party, Ali Modu Sheriff, when
they paid him a visit in Abuja that the South-
West was not interested in the post.
This came as Sheriff pledged to unite the PDP
members from the zone.

The PDP’s South-West leaders made their
position known in a paper they presented to
Sheriff and other members of the party’s
National Working Committee.

The situation report on the state of the party in
the zone was signed by Sen. Buruji Kashamu,
Sen. Teslim Folarin, the chairmen of the party in
the six South-West states and 30 others.
The group was led by the South-West National
Vice-Chairman, Mr. Makanjuola Ogundipe.
They also endorsed Kashamu as the leader of
the party in the zone.

The party chiefs said the PDP would become a
regional party if the South got the national
chairmanship position.

The report said, “We say this because out of
the five states in the South-East, the PDP has
three governors. We have five governors out of
the six states in the South-South. In the South-
West, we have two governors.

“In the whole of the North, we have only two
governors. We need to strengthen the North. If
not, the PDP will be branded as a regional party
if we go ahead to pick the national chairman
from the South.”

Sheriff said, “We cannot afford to divide our
house. If it means begging everybody, I will. You
should resolve your differences.”

Senator Ayo Adeosun, who spoke on behalf of
delegates from Oyo State, admitted that there
was a serious problem in the party in South-
West.

He said, “There are some influential people who
are not here. We urge you to bring them on
board. Lagos would have been ours but for an
internal wrangling.”