There was heavy security presence at the secretariat of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, as executives of the party met this week to discuss the botched primary in the state.

About 20 anti-riot policemen mounted sentry at the entrance of the party’s secretariat, along Asa Dam Road in the metropolis.

But, the party’s spokesperson in the state, Chief Rex Olawoye, said the presence of security men was to ward off  hoodlums ‘who might want to protest the loss by their principal’.

Olawoye said there was no crisis within the party, but he added that fears were expressed in some quarters that the national secretariat of the PDP might upturn the result of the primaries which produced Senator Simon Ajibola as governorship candidate.

But, it was also gathered that the police presence might have been used to prevent a protest march to the secretariat by supporters of Ajibola, who may want to counter the one carried out on Saturday evening by some members of the party against his emergence as the PDP flag bearer for next year’s governorship elections.

The earlier protest was believed to have been sponsored by some aggrieved stakeholders in the party to give the impression that Ajibola is an unsellable candidate for the party. The aggrieved leaders were said to have allegedly undertaken several moves to rework the outcome of the primaries in favour of their candidate.

He said: “We have an executive meeting today to appraise the outcome of the primary so that we can take position on issues and you know some hoodlums could come  to demonstrate as reaction to the loss by their principal. So, that’s why we asked the police to come and be here to keep them at bay. We need to meet to review things.”

On the probable modification of the outcome of the primary, Olawoye said: “When you have a primary like this, the national body still has the final say. You remember when Rotimi Amaechi won the primary and his name was substituted with that of Celestine Omehia, he went to court to challenge it. Fortunately, he won and was given the mandate, without contesting in the election. This is politics and anything can happen. But, for anyone to say he doesn’t know Ajibola is a lie. He has represented Kwara South for 12 years and he has done well for us and we know him very well.”

The camp of the Freedom Group within the party expressed similar fears, warning against any planned substitution of Ajibola’s name with that of another candidate. It dismissed the religious arguments being allegedly raised against the candidature of Ajibola.

In a statement, the group’s spokesperson, Tajudeen Kareem said, “We wish that, in the interest of democracy, freedom of choice and peace in our   party, nothing is done to tamper with Senator Ajibola’s mandate. Any attempt to manipulate the outcome of the governorship election supervised by Governor Gabriel Suswam is a recipe for electoral disaster for the PDP in Kwara State.”

Alhaji Kareem added: “We testify to the fact that the governorship primary election was conducted in adherence to due process, transparency and in conformity with the guidelines and regulations of the PDP. That anyone or group of persons are uncomfortable with its outcome is myopic, divisive and undemocratic. It flies in the face of logic and the facts on the ground in Kwara State.

“When has religion become the basis for political representation in Kwara State? The advocates of anti-Ajibola candidacy are disingenuous. Their antics have exposed them as a bunch pursuing selfish interests and not the interest of our people. If Ajibola is a Christian so what?  All three candidates who recently won tickets to contest senatorial seats on the platform of the PDP are Muslims: Alhaji Yinka Aluko, Central; Alhaji Yinusa Yahaya, North; Arc. Lola Ashiru, South.

“As a matter of fact, of the six candidates chosen by delegates for the House of Representatives election, only one, Mr. Richard Babatunde (Oke-Ero, Isin, Ekiti and Irepodun constituency) is a Christian. The rest are Muslims. Going further, the same PDP delegates had earlier elected 24 of their members to contest election to the House of Assembly. Of the lot, only six are Christians. They are-Enoch Omokanye (Odo-Ogun in Oyun), Henry Olatunde (Omupo in Ifelodun), Ben Duntoye (Irepodun), Olu Adeoti (Oke-Ero), Segun Bamidele (Ekiti) and Sunday Adedoyin( Isin).

“The Freedom Group is comfortable with the emergence of Senator Ajibola. That is the collective wish of PDP members who earlier elected delegates to represent them. His emergence has put a lie to the face of those who tried to hoodwink the delegates that the Presidency in Abuja had anointed a candidate.”

Also, in a statement on behalf of other aspirants, Deacon Johna Dara accepted the emergence of Ajibola as the PDP candidate and asked the party’s leadership to immediately set up a reconciliation committee to bring aggrieved members of the party on board to ensure victory for the party in 2015.

He said the aspirants met in the house of Professor Shuiab AbdulRaheem on Sunday night and reached agreement on the issue.

The four-paragraph statement however did not give a list of those who attended the meeting but it was gathered that Mr. Mohammed Dele Belgore (SAN) was not in attendance.  The statement asked Ajibola to also commence efforts to placate aggrieved members and form an inclusive campaign structure to effectively mobilise PDP members and the general public for the coming elections.