OGUN PDP WORKING TOWARDS CONSENSUS

The Presidency and the National Working Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) may have finally resolved all issues surrounding the selection of a governorship candidate in the Ogun State chapter of the party.

Nigeria Tribune reports that a meting held at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, Wednesday night and chaired by the national chairman, Adamu Mu’azu settled for former speaker, Dimeji Bankole as the party’s standard-bearer.
Ex-governor, Gbenga Daniel, former Minister of State for Finance, Senator Jubril Martins-Kuye and some selected leaders of the party were in attendance.
However, the chairman of mobilisation and organisation, Prince Buruji Kashamu, was said to be absent from the meeting.
He is a strong opponent of Bankole’s candidature
The meeting also had an arrangement that other elective positions should be shared among the three party bigwigs.
The source also said that the Ogun Central senatorial ticket would be handed over to wife of the foremost Ijaw leader, Dr Bisola Sodipo-Clark, while Daniel and Kashamu were to determine who gets Ogun East and West senatorial tickets.
The nine House of Representatives seats, according to the source, were to be shared equally among the three, with each taking three slots.
Fifteen out of 26 State House of Assembly seats were said to be reserved for Bankole, while Daniel and Kashamu would control the remaining 11 seats.
Reacting, state secretary of the party, Alhaji Semiu Sodipo, denied knowledge of such arrangements, saying “there is no element of truth in it. It is not feasible, it is not possible. It is total lies, it is malicious.”
On his part, Kashamu through his media assistant, Austin Oniyokor, said plot to install Bankole was against due process.
“Everybody knows that in a democracy, you can only talk about consensus when all the aspirants agree to a consensus arrangement.
“Where you have a dissenting voice by any one of the aspirants, then it cannot work,” he said.
“To the best of my knowledge, all aspirants for the governorship seat of Ogun State are still very much in the race. I don’t know where the idea of the consensus is coming from”, he said.