Why PDP Doesn’t Have A Tinubu, Oshiomhole Dictating What Must Happen - Ologbondiyan

The National Publicity Secretary of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Kola Ologbondiyan, on Monday explained why the party cannot have bigwigs like the All Progressives Congress (APC) national leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu or embattled national chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, dictating who gets what in the party.

This was as the Deputy Governor of Ondo State, Hon Agboola Ajayi, who recently resigned from the All Progressive Congress, APC, disclosed that the reason he ditched his former party is that APC is having breathing difficulties because one man is kneeling on its neck.

The PDP National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus, had while welcoming Ajayi on Monday into the party assured other governorship aspirants in the October election in Ondo state that the party would not impose any candidate.

Secondus, who led party leaders to receive Ajayi into the party, also said the party has no favourite candidate. Speaking at the ceremony, Ajayi said that the party should not accord him any special treatment and should not bend its constitution to favour him.

“Therefore my political sojourn in APC had to come to an end because the party has become a poisoned space, it is a house divided against itself and in Ondo State in particular, the party is having breathing difficulties because one man is kneeling on its neck,” said the Deputy Governor.

Meanwhile, Ologbondiyan was speaking following allegations that the PDP had given automatic ticket to Godwin Obaseki, thereby undermining the rights and loyalty of the other three aspirants, as the governor has already started addressing himself as leader of the party in Edo State.

Dispelling the insinuation that some aspirants had insisted that they would not step down for anybody, Ologbondiyan told a local media that the national working committee (NWC) is not biased and had not met with any aspirant to ask that he stepped down.

He maintained that PDP operates a collegiate leadership system which makes it impossible for an Asiwaju (Bola Tinubu) or (Adams) Oshiomhole to dictate the operations of party affairs, hence it would treat every aspirant based on fact presented.

“We are operating within the 21 days’ notification provided in the Constitution and the Electoral Act, we are taking maximum advantage of our window period. The party is not acting as if anybody has been given an automatic ticket. We would go through due process. We are taking into consideration provisions of our law, Electoral Act, as well as constitution. We have not acted in any way to show that we are imposing any candidate. Nobody can accuse the NWC that it came in to manipulate the process. Obaseki came in one month before the election.

“On the issue that Obaseki addressed himself as political leader of the party in Edo State, you know that in PDP, we have different levels of leadership.

“In PDP, we don’t have the kind of leaders that people talk about in All Progressives Congress (APC). What we have in PDP are various levels of leadership. In my ward for instance, I have a political leader, even though I am a national leader of the party.

"In PDP, our activities are based largely on consultations across the various strata of leadership. We also have respect for our governors just like we have for other leaders. We have a collegiate of leaders, and that is why we don’t have an Asiwaju who would say, 'this is it' or an Oshiomhole, who would say, 'this is it'."