Hammed Shittu gives an account of the intrigues that threw up the new executive of the Peoples Democratic Party in Kwara State

Despite the crisis that marred the just concluded ward congresses of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Kwara State, members of the party again returned to the drawing board recently and shelved their differences by organising what was described as a free and fair congress. The development became imperative in view of the fact that control of the party had been in the hand of the caretaker committee, led by a former member of the House of Representatives from Delta State, Hon. Solomon Edoja.

The Edoja-led committee was appointed by the national leadership of the party following the mass defection of ex-members of the PDP, led by a former governor of the state and Senator representing Kwara Central, Senator Bukola Saraki and the incumbent governor, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed, to the opposition All Progressive Congress (APC).

The decision to forge ahead with the congresses was borne out of the party's concern to wrest power from the Ahmed administration.
Leaders of the PDP in the state including former Speaker of the state House of Assembly and former Minister of Transport and Sports, Hon. Issa Bio Ibrahim; current chairman of the Federal Character Commission, Professor Shuaib Oba Abdulraheem; Special Adviser on National Assembly Matters to President Goodluck Jonathan, Senator Suleiman Makanjuola Ajadi and State Coordinator of SURE-P, Chief Moses Ibiyemi, all agreed to the idea of the congress.

Others were Senator Gbemisola Saraki, Mr. Muhammed Dele Belgore (SAN), Chief Rex Olaoye, Hajia Muinat Sagaya, Hon. Bode Ojomu, Hon. Iyiola Oyedepo, Alhaji Abdulrahman Abdulrasaq, Bilikisu
Gambari-Edewor and Colonel Theophilus Bamigboye (Rtd).

They all agreed that with the return of the party to them, an opportunity to garner more support and plan towards the next general election has been provided. Thus, on Tuesday, April 15, 2014, the party’s delegates converged on the Micheal Imoudo National Institute for Labour Studies, Ilorin, for the congress.

The delegates were first accredited at the accreditation venue before they were later taken to Maryam Events Centre along Ajase-Ipo-Ilorin road, where the election was held till the following day, Wednesday, 16 April, 2014.

Eight chairmanship aspirants were on the ground for the election at the congress. They are Hon. Iyiola Oyedepo, Rev. Bunmi Olusona, Alhaji Muhammed Al-Hassan, Hon. Yahaya Yunusa, Hon. Musa Kaala, Chief Sunday Fagbemi, Alhaji Abdulkadir Manko and Hon. Bode Ojomu.

Before the election proper, six out of the chairmanship aspirants stepped down, leaving two of them for the election. The two aspirants that contested for the election were Oyedepo and Ojomu.

At the congress, gathered that the leaders of the party were formed into three groups, with each group said to be backing aspirants that were contesting for the various positions. The groups are identified as Kwara South group, Kwara North group, Senator Gbemisola Saraki/Abdulrahman Abdulrasaq group and the Professor Shuaib Oba Abdulraheem/Col. Lawal group.

The Kwara South group has the likes of former deputy governor of the state, Chief Joel Ogundeji; Chief Samuel Adebayo; Deacon John Dara and Senator Suleiman Makanjuola Ajadi as its arrowheads. Other interest groups present Muhammed Dele Belgore (SAN) group and Hajia Muina Sagaya group. Report had it that they demanded for the chairmanship to be zoned to the south. After a lot of intrigues, Oyedepo became the chairmanship candidate of the Kwara South.

On the day of the congress, the Gbemisola Saraki/Abdulrahman Abdulrazak group decided to partner the Kwara South/Kwara North coalition. Thus, they persuaded Fagbemi, their chairmanship candidate to step down for Oyedepo. They said Oyedepo could have been a consensus candidate but for the insistence of the Lawal/Oba candidate, Mr. Bode Ojomu, to go on with the contest.
With the conduct of the state party congress, some members of the party thought a true democratic culture had been established in the state and is expected to be in use during the forthcoming general election.

The party, according to pundits, believes that the emergence of the Iyiola Oyedepo-led executive in a peaceful manner is a testimony to the fact that members of the PDP in the state could come together and agree on the choice of a candidate.
Speaking with journalists, Ibrahim had said the congress would be peaceful, adding that the leadership of the party had conceded the chairmanship position to the Kwara South Senatorial District of the state.

He said the candidate might emerge through consensus and if otherwise, the two of them would face the delegates through an election, noting that the PDP would work harder to ensure the electoral victory of the party during the 2015 general election in the state.
Soon after the congress, THISDAY further gathered that the party had been formed along two main groups, namely the Freedom Group and Unity Group. In the Freedom Group are Oba Abdulraheem and Ajibola while the Unity Group has Saraki, Ibrahim,Abdlrahman, Ashiru, and Deacon John Dara.

Former national chairman of the PDP, Senator Banabas Gemade, who was also the returning officer in the election declared that Oyedepo pulled a total of 375 votes to defeat his closest rival, Ojomu, who scored 255 votes, while Alhasan scored 19 votes.
Gemade described the congress as peaceful, orderly, free and fair. He said the outcome of the congress portrayed internal democracy, adding that imposition of candidates on the electorate, which had made PDP tolose elections in very sensitive places like Kwara, would not happen again.

The post of the deputy chairman of the party went to Abdulkadir Manko Attahiru while Hassan Rasaq became the new Secretary. The posts of Vice Chairman (South) and Assistant Treasurer were returned unopposed to Chief Gbenle Adeyemi and Julius Ore respectively.

Mr. Bolaji Raji, Alhaji Nma Mohammed and Abiola Moshood were elected as Assistant Secretaries for South, North and Central respectively, while Hon. Nimota Oba-Suleiman was the Women Leader. Segun Olawoyin became Youths leader and the post of Legal Adviser went to Musa Audu. Chief Rex Olawoye, who pulled 296 votes to win Tajudeen Kareem emerged the Publicity Secretary while Babajide Stevens became the Financial Secretary.

Belgore, in a statement issued and signed by his Special Assistant on Media, Mr. Rafiu Ajakaye, in Ilorin, described it as free and fair. "As far as we are concerned, the congress was open, transparent and orderly and the widespread opinion is that it is credible. As you are aware, the congress was supervised by credible individuals from the PDP National Secretariat, led by Senator Gemade- the PDP team that conducted the Congress".

He commended all the delegates and party stakeholders for their orderly conduct and spirit of sportsmanship while the exercise lasted, adding that "We are satisfied with the conduct because we believe it satisfies the requirements of transparent and representative democracy."

But hours after the result was declared, The Freedom Group rejected the result. A statement issued and signed on behalf of the group by Chief Lanre Ogundeji and made available to journalists in Ilorin said the outcome was full of discrepancies.
After a preliminary assessment of the Congress, the group said the outcome was full of discrepancies, especially on the variance between the number of delegates accredited and the number of votes recorded for the contestants.

Specifically, the group said whereas more than 800 delegates were accredited, just about 550 votes were recorded for all candidates who contested the chairmanship seat. "What happened to the balance of about 250 votes of accredited delegates," they asked.
The group also alleged foul play in the sorting and recording of votes for some candidates. It said many votes cast in favour of Ojomu were stolen by officials.

"Moreover, Hon. Gabriel Olatunji, who contested to be vice chairman, Kwara North senatorial district was scored zero, but the candidate voted for himself and had many supporters who voted for him at the Congress. In summary, the Freedom Group is convinced that the results declared at the end of the Congress do not reflect the choice of the delegates who went through a rigorous screening and accreditation process," it said.

The congress done with, the party is now in the hands of the Belgore and Saraki groups. The chairman of the party, Oyedepo is from Belgore's group while the secretary, Hassan and Women Leader, Hon. (Mrs) Nimota Oba Suleiman are from the Saraki group.
Thus, given the peaceful conduct of the congress, the stage is now set for which party, between the PDP and the APC would take over the state in 2015. And for this, the Kwara people are waiting to see who calls the shot next.