There is no faction in Lagos PDP, says Dominic

Lagos State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain Dr. Adegbola Dominic has said that he is the authentic chairman of the party.

Addressing elders/leaders meeting at the party secretariat, Ikeja, recently, he said the party was at peace, noting that the threat by Segun Adewale was not an issue.

The statement reads: “I use this opportunity to formally express my appreciation to you, great members of our great party for your steadfastness, and unflinching support, commitment and loyalty to the great cause of the People’s Democratic Party before, during and after the eleI commend your resilience and gallant disposition in the face of the massive manipulations and intimidation that was the order throughout the elections. Nevertheless, we wait patiently and with high expectations that justice will prevail at the various election tribunals, especially the Presidential Elections Tribunal, and our mandate that was given by the people of Nigeria to Atiku Abubakar will be restored to us.

“We have learned some very good lessons from the events of the elections which should leverage the re-organisation of our party and determinedly instill in our members (both leaders and followers), an attitude of discipline, loyalty and commitment to the ideals of this great party.

“In this regard, various leadership fora, including the State CWC, have met severally, and all are agreed that the following actions are necessary for the repositioning and progress of our party-

Collapsing all groups and factions into one unified PDP structure.  Institutionalizing Internal Democracy by letting the people, and only the people, choose their party officers and other leaders at all levels. Therefore, the practice of allotting or allocating party and other offices to individual leaders or groups or factions shall be abolished completely. Whoever wants to hold office should seek such by himself or herself from the members at all levels, beginning from the Ward.

Read also: Adewale: George is killing Lagos PDP

“It is unrealistic and unwise for our party to be administered on the basis of 20 Local Government areas in Lagos state, while the APC and other parties are operating 57 LGA party structures.

In Lagos State, there are 57 functional Local Governments (which are also referred to as ‘20 LGAs and 37 LCDAs) for the purpose of conformity with the Federal Constitution. These 57 LGAs are legal entities duly recognized by the Laws of Lagos State. Therefore administering our own party on the basis of 20 LGAs will continue to put us at electoral disadvantage to other parties.

“The State CWC has therefore resolved and recommended the restructuring of our party administration to conform with the 57 LGA structure. A Special Committee has been put in place to work out the modalities for implementation of these reforms.

“I wish to state clearly here that there is no crisis within the Lagos PDP. Recently, a character called Segun Adewale aka Aeroland has been issuing public statements announcing himself as the chairman of our party in Lagos State, claiming that he has sacked me and my Executive Committee and has taken over our Secretariat.

“That, of course, is not true, as you can see for yourselves.

It is true that Mr. Segun Adewale led a gang of hoodlums, brandishing guns and other dangerous weapons, to invade this secretariat.

For two consecutive days,  they terrorized and harassed our staff and visitors at the secretariat, dispossessing them of their valuables. We informed the Police who moved in swiftly and arrested some of the thugs. Segun Adewale on his part, was said to have disappeared from the scene. He later surfaced at the Police station where he was seen with the other thugs.

“They were eventually released on bail, and instructed to report back at the Police station on Friday 5th April. I have reliable information that they did not report back as required. They are therefore now certainly being wanted by the Police. Let me assure you that a new era has begun in the PDP. There shall be zero tolerance for any acts of criminality, indiscipline or thuggery from any quarters whatsoever.

“In the case of Segun Adewale, he is NOT a member of our party; and this has been repeatedly stated by the party leadership, including myself as the Lagos State Chairman, Dr. Eddy Olafeso, National Vice Chairman, Elder Yemi Akinwonmi, the Deputy National Chairman, and our foremost leader in Lagos State, Chief Olabode George.

“Even PDP members in his Alimoso community have written several letters disowning him to the Police and State and National leadership of the party. One of such letters, signed by over 750 members, is available for your perusal. Therefore, because he is not a member of our party, the issue of disciplinary action against him would not arise.

“We can only hand him over to the Police, which we have done; and we are quite confident that the Police is in control of the situation.”