TVC E. The recently-conducted Kwara State Peoples Democratic Party’s ( PDP ) congress has divided the party into two factions.
Already, 12 of its former governors and no fewer than 14 former ministers are leading a breakaway group, which is labelled, Concerned PDP Stakeholders Steering Committee.
The 57-man committee, named in Abuja on Saturday, is expected to take over the running of the party from May 21, when the tenure of the current members of the National Working Committee of the party comes to end.
The factions led by the ex-Chairman of the party, Akogun Iyiola Oyedepo and another by Prince Sunday Fagbemi conducted parallel congresses at different venues in Ilorin on Tuesday.
The next day, members of the party, particularly from Kwara Central, decried the exercise, alleging non- accreditation of their delegates.
Addressing reporters in Ilorin, Prince Fagbemi, the former chairman of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), claimed that the congress, which produced him as the chairman, was witnessed by five of the seven-man national electoral panel from Abuja.
He added that representatives of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and security agencies also witnessed the congress.
Fagbemi accused the Oyedepo-led executive of imposition, intimidation and electoral malpractices, saying some contestants were barred from the venue of the congress at Stella Obasanjo Multipurpose Hall, Ilorin.
Fagbemi, who alleged that the congress at the ward, local government and state government levels were manipulated, added that nomination forms and result sheets were made available to the contestants favourable to Oyedepo.
The PDP chieftain, who said the development led to the conduct of a parallel congress at a different venue the same night, added that executive members emerged and he became the chairman.
He described the congress held by the Akogun-led exco as pre-determined, saying delegates from eight councils, namely Ilorin West, Ilorin South, Ilorin East, Asa, Moro, Offa, Isin and Ekiti were disallowed from participating in the congress.
Fagbemi said: “Efforts to correct the anomalies at different levels of the congress were rejected by the electoral panel. I had to force myself into the hall when about 29 contestants were denied entry. The scenario led to a riotous moment, sporadic gunshots by thugs, firing of teargas and discovery of a vehicle laden with weapons, arms and ammunition at Stella Obasanjo Hall.”
Fagbemi, who decried happenings in the PDP, said the party had never had it so bad, with no seat in the House of Assembly.
He said efforts were not made to forge unity by the incumbent executives, adding that his members would not fold their arms and allow the party to be destroyed.
