The Osun State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) may be on the road to perdition once again.
If the persecutions persist and internal crisis of the party are not resolved amicably, Senator Ademola Adeleke may have no choice than to leave the party, that if he is, indeed, still interested in the number one seat of the state. A source revealed to this writer.
Ademola Adeleke and his billionaire brother, Dr. Deji Adeleke who has been a major financier of Osun PDP, we exclusively gathered, are currently under a serious political attacks in the state.
There are seems to be some forces who wont stop at nothing in frustrating the Adelekes out of the party.
All these scheming and underground politics according to another source within Osun PDP may not be unconnected with the party’s guber ticket come 2022.
Some members, who feel Demola Adeleke is likely to be favoured with the guber ticket against their wishes, judging by the brother’s deep pockets and strong connections with the powers that be at the National level, are not happy. The source said.
There are also all kinds of allegations hanging on the neck of the Adelekes too. Some members of Osun PDP have fingered Dr. Deji Adeleke in the mismanagement of Alhaji Atiku Abubakah’s presidential campaign fund.
Not only that, the Adelekes are said to be behind the recent travails of the Chairman of the party, Hon. Adesoji Adagunodo. The embattled Chairman, it would be recalled, was suspended by NEC of the party. He was asked to step aside and handover party affairs to his deputy, pending the time that the investigation into the allegations levied against him will be concluded.
Adagunodo, according to PDP NWC’s letter, was accused of malfeasance, maladministration and anti-party party activities. A development which is believed to be the handiwork of the Adelekes, in order to settle scores with Adagunodo.
There was an allegation that Adagunodo must have compromised his loyalty to the Adelekes during the primaries of the party before the last election. He was alleged to have collected money from Dr. Akin Ogunbiyi, who contested the party’s ticket with Demola Adeleke.
Though the embattled chairman has outrightly denied the allegation, saying that anybody who has an evidence to the claims should come forward and proof it.
But the Adelekes seemed not to be convinced by his explanation and that signalled the beginning of the crack between them. So this latest development, according to an inside source, may be a way to settle scores with Adagunodo by the Adelekes, who somehow felt betrayed.
Another source also revealed to this writer that there is in fact, an underground moves to get Adagunodo out of the way by all means. The source said the believe in the Adelekes’ camp is that there is no way Demola Adeleke will get PDP’s guber ticket come 2022, if Adagunodo remains the party chairman.
Meanwhile, the believe in some quarters within the party is that Senator Demola Adeleke doesn’t have the finesse and charisma to win a governorship election.
They feel he would have been better off as a senator. In fact, many thought he was going back to the Senate in the last election before the guber ambition came up. This school of thought wants to believe that had it been Adeleke had allowed a stronger candidate to emerge and some crisis within the party back then were well managed, they would have beaten the opposition party, APC hands down, without having to go for a rerun or tribunal.
A party man who also spoke with this writer under the condition of anonymity revealed that the latest crisis must have been fuelled by a recent South West zonal meeting of PDP, where the plan to shift position of Zonal Secretary of the zone to another state was discussed. The position is presently occupied by Reverend Bunmi Jenyo who is from Ila Local Government area of Osun State and said to be very close to the Adelekes.
Reverend Jenyo, we gathered, is the Adelekes’ point man in PDP at both National and state levels and in order to protect the family’s interest, anybody who may pose as a stumbling block to Demola Adeleke’s guber ambition come 2022 must be ready for a big battle. Don’t also forget that Dr. Deji Adeleke has been a major financier of the party since the exit of Senator Iyiola Omisore.
Ademola Adeleke, it would be recalled, replaced his brother, Isiaka, who died in April, 2017 and was a Senator under APC, in the Osun West Senatorial District. A few days to the by-election, he defected from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and won.
