The sacked National Secretary of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP),
Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, has launched a fight back to save his
political career.
He has filed an appeal against the judgment of a
Federal High Court in Abuja, which removed him from office, and is also
seeking a stay of execution of the judgment of Justice Abdu Kafarati.
In
the face of reports that leading members of the ruling party had
counseled him to step down following the court judgment against him, the
former Osun State governor insists there is no basis for him to do so.
He does not understand why he has to be drawn into the zonal congress
controversy when the party’s National Chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur,
who is a product of the zonal congress is not.
The former
governor, who spoke through his media aide, Mr. Ayo Olaiya, said if the
issue persists it will affect Tukur more than anyone else in the party
hierarchy.
He said: “The argument of Oyinlola is that he was not a
product of any zonal congress. So his nomination is not illegal.
Oyinlola said he emerged at the National Convention after other
contestants had publicly stepped down for him.
“He said at the
South-West Congress in Osogbo, the only candidate endorsed was the
National Vice-Chairman (South-West) of the PDP, Mr. Segun Oni.
“He
said the application before the Federal High Court was baseless, an
abuse of court process and ought not to have been entertained at all in
the first instance.”
On pressure being placed on him to step
aside, the media aide said: “There is nothing like that. Nobody in the
party, including the National Chairman of PDP, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, has
asked Oyinlola to leave office. Oyinlola will not vacate his seat and
any move to make him do so will be subjudice given the appeal already
filed.
“Tukur or anybody could not have spoken to Oyinlola. All
NWC members, except Tukur, emerged at the National Convention of the
party, not at the zonal congress.
“If you can recall very well,
Tukur was actually defeated by a former National Secretary of PDP,
Babayo Shehu, at the North-East Congress before President Goodluck
Jonathan and other leaders prevailed on Shehu to step down for him.
“So,
if there is any issue about zonal congress, it will affect Tukur more
than any member of the NWC because he emerged contrary to the decision
of the zonal congress.
“Therefore, if they are holding on to the
so-called claim of zonal congress, whatever affects Oyinlola will weigh
heavily on Tukur. That is why Tukur or anybody in NWC cannot ask
Oyinlola to leave office.”
However, it was gathered that the plot
to effectively terminate Prince Oyinlola’s reign as the National
Secretary of the PDP gathered pace yesterday.
According to
sources, some party leaders have shortlisted one time Transport
Minister, Chief Ebenezer Babatope, National Vice Chairman of the PDP
(South West), Chief Segun Oni and former National Publicity Secretary of
the defunct Social Democratic Party (SDP), Chief Ishola Filani, as
possible candidates to replace him in an acting capacity.
The
National Chairman of the party, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, and some other
leaders of the PDP are understood to have asked Prince Oyinlola to step
aside until the determination of his appeal.
Investigation by our
correspondent showed that some leaders of the PDP and those loyal to
Tukur are insisting on Oyinlola stepping aside.
It was learnt
that some of the leaders have tried to reach out to Oyinlola to “act
true to type as a lawyer by respecting the judgment of the court to step
aside.”
A party source said Tukur reiterated the same position
when he interacted with party leaders and a couple of NWC members on
Friday after the judgment.
The source said: “The party is
expecting an enforcement order from the court to enable Oyinlola to
vacate his seat till his matter is finally ironed out by the Court of
Appeal and the Supreme Court.
“Once Oyinlola leaves office
temporarily, the party will prevail on the South-West to pick a nominee
as acting National Secretary among three candidates to be recommended.
The party wants to stick to the zoning formula instead of asking the
Deputy National Secretary to act.
“The candidates being
considered are the National Vice-Chairman of PDP(South-West), Chief
Segun Oni; a former National Organising Secretary of the defunct Unity
Party of Nigeria(UPN), Chief Ebenezer Babatope, and a former National
Publicity Secretary of the former Social Democratic Party(SDP), Chief
Ishola Filani.
“The opinion of some loyalists of Tukur is in
favour of Oni, who is rated as more amenable than the others. But the
party will go by the consensus of key stakeholders, including President
Goodluck Jonathan.”
A member of the National Working Committee
said: “What the leaders are saying is that Oyinlola must obey court
order by vacating office until he secures a stay.
“Even if there
is a court order for a stay of execution, the party will run into a
crisis because any decision taken by Oyinlola would amount to nullity if
he eventually loses at the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court. So,
the National Secretariat will not function well and there can’t be a
smooth working relationship between the National Chairman and Oyinlola.
“It is going to be a no-win situation for the party.”
A
source close to the PDP Governors Forum said: “As far as the governors
are concerned, Oyinlola won’t step aside at all. Instead, they have
encouraged him to be steadfast because he remains their candidate for
the job.
“The governors took note of the fact that a High Court
is not a final court in the land. Therefore, hanging on to the High
Court judgment would amount to mischief.”
Friday’s court decision on Oyinlola was greeted with jubilation in the camp of President Goodluck Jonathan and Tukur.
The
president and his strategists are determined to regain control of the
party ahead of the 2015 elections and do not consider Oyinlola as one
whose control of the party’s secretariat would be of benefit to their
camp.
Oyinlola was nominated by former President Olusegun Obasanjo and the state governors.
Culled From: Nation Newspaper
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