A Peoples Democratic Party group, Alliance for PDP South-West, has come up with a list of 11 party chieftains from the South-West for the national chairmanship position of the party.
On the list are a former Osun State Governor, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola; former PDP Deputy National Chairman, Chief Olabode George; and former Ekiti State governors, Ayo Fayose, and Segun Oni.
Others are a former Lagos State PDP governorship candidate, Mr Jimi Agbaje; former PDP National Secretary, Prof Wale Oladipo; former Ondo State PDP governorship candidate, Eyitayo Jegede (SAN); Dr Charles Akitoye; Mr Jide Adeniji; Mr Olusola Ebiseni; and Senator Bode Olajumoke.
There have been media reports that some members of the PDP in the South-West are plotting to provide the successor for the National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus, whose first tenure ends in December 2021.
There are unconfirmed reports that Secondus may also go for another term.
But among those listed by the group, only Oyinlola had openly declared his intention to run for the office of the national chairman of the former ruling party. Oyinlola, a former governor of Osun State, was also a former national secretary of the party.
Meanwhile, ex-Ekiti State governor, Oni, on Saturday, said the region was rooting for Oyinlola for the national chairmanship position.
“The person that all of us are setting our eyes on is Prince Oyinlola, and he has not yet told us that he’s not going to do it. That’s the man we all want to support for the position of national chairman,” Oni told Sunday PUNCH.
Asked if the PDP was bringing anything new to the polity ahead of the 2023 elections, Oni described the regime of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd), as the “worst performing government in the history of Nigeria.”
He said, “Without mincing words, no government – civilian or military – had ever performed this woefully. And this is why a lot of people are frustrated and raising movements against the continuity of Nigeria as one nation. It’s all about bad governance. This is the most incompetent government ever, and so our people are disillusioned.
“Unless we get a government that can deliver, Nigeria is at risk”.
“A government is more than a manifesto. Things have shown us this. Look at the government we have now. A good manifesto doesn’t necessarily translate into good governance. So we need someone with good management skills at the helm of affairs. We don’t need a lazy person who will get there and be an absentee landlord. He must have a vision to drive his team and the country to the Promised Land.
“Nigerians should stop asking politicians what they want to do. They should look for what stuff the person is made of to know if the person will deliver. We should look beyond manifestos. People can hire consultants to write great manifestos for them.”
Oni said many politicians, including him, had been sad about the developments in Nigeria, especially as they played a role in the emergence of the Buhari regime.
He said, “I was part of the making of this government in a way and I have seen that manifestos are useless. The APC had a good manifesto then, but nobody ever imagined things would be this bad. Then, a part of Nigeria had failed, which was the North-East, and we were all up in arms on why the government of then-President Goodluck Jonathan would allow a part of Nigeria to fail.
“So we thought having a man whose background was in the military would correct the situation. We thought he (Buhari) would know what to do. Now, virtually all the parts of Nigeria have failed under his watch. It is very sad. Some of us are very unhappy about what is going on.”
