June 15, (THEWILL)- The Lagos State Chapter of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has inaugurated a Leadership Advisory Council and affirmed Chief Bode George, former Deputy National Chairman, as its leader.
Other members of the council include: Chief Dapo Sarumi, Sen. Kofo Bucknor-Akerele, Dr. Remi Akitoye, Chief (Mrs.) Aduke Maina, Chief (Mrs) Onikepo Oshodi, Dr. Abimbola Ogunkelu Engr. Deji Doherty, Prince Muiz Dosumu, Alhaji Rahman Owokoniran, Alh.Tanwa Olusi, among others.
George, Maina and Ogunkelu raised the matter of the Lagos council polls fixed for July and doubted the credibility of the process, although they indicated that PDP would do its best to swing majority votes in some local governments.
During its inaugural meeting on Tuesday, council members stated that the time had come for their party to take over Lagos State going by the team spirit it had generated after a successful reconciliation.
Babatunde Olarenwaju moved a motion to reaffirm Chief Bode George as the leader of the council and was seconded by Alloysius Okafor, while the oath of office was administered on members by a lawyer and chieftain of the party, Barrister Adewale Onileere.
In his acceptance speech, George stated that it was a new dawn for the party in Lagos, even as he took time to apologise to all those he might have offended directly or indirectly, and said that he had accepted the apologies of those people who felt that they had offended him in one way or the other.
He said, “PDP is one. And after today, no distraction from outside the party will be tolerated. PDP doesn’t have any faction. Those who flout the party’s constitution will be sanctioned. Let us rise above pettiness, disunity, lack of commitment and work as a team.”
Lamenting on the state of the nation and why the 2014 National Conference should be revisited, the Atona Oodua of Yorubaland said, “The electoral process must be changed. The report of the 2014 Confab must be revisited. The future of this country is bleak. We must devolve power from the centre to the states. The National Assembly must adopt technology and ensure electronic voting.
“We must redesign the Constitution in such a way that there must be respect for everyone if we want to progress as a nation.”
He enjoined members to return to their local government areas and preach the message of reconciliation to all the members, stressing that the party was prepared to try its best in the forthcoming local government elections although it was aware that the election would not be credible going by the antecedents of the ruling party in the state.
“We know that the electoral umpire in the state has been selected by the emperor. We will try our best,” he said.
Speaking with journalists after the event, Chief (Mrs.) Aduke Maina, a member of the PDP Board of Trustees said that all the leaders would work towards the progress of the party so that it would begin to win elections in the state.
On the local government elections, she said that preparations had been ongoing and lamented that the party had been winning elections in the state but unfortunately the ruling party was in the habit of writing election results even before the actual elections
Maina, however, said that the party would not be dissuaded by the action of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Corroborating Maina, Dr. Abimbola Ogunkelu said that it was no longer news that Asiwaju Bola Tinubu controlled everything in the state and manipulated the results of elections in the state.
He said, “We will try our best and I can assure you that it is not all members of the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC) that are bad. There are past members of LASIEC that have been upright. So we look forward to a credible election.”
About the Author
AYO ESAN, has been actively reporting and analyzing political events for different newspapers for over 18 years. He has also successfully covered national and state elections in Nigeria since the inception of this democracy in 1999.
