The Peoples Democratic Party has set up a reconciliation committee headed by a former President of the Senate, David Mark, to settle the rifts among its members in Ekiti State.
Mark, it was learnt, would be assisted by the Deputy Vice Chairman of the party in the South-West, Dr. Eddy Olafeso, and others whose identities were not known as of the time of filing this report.
The National Publicity Secretary of the party, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, confirmed the setting up of the committee in an interview with our correspondent in Abuja on Monday.
He said, “Yes, it is true we have set up a committee headed by Senator David Mark on Ekiti State. The committee is credible and its members were carefully chosen with a mandate to settle the rift.
“The state is important to us and we don’t want to play with it because after winning there, we will then move to Osun State to liberate them.”
The crisis in Ekiti deepened when Governor Ayodele Fayose allegedly picked his deputy, Prof. Kolapo Olusola, singlehandedly as his successor and the candidate of the party in the coming governorship election.
Aggrieved leaders of the party led by a former National Publicity Secretary of the party, Prince Dayo Adeyeye, vowed that the adoption would not stand and called on the national leadership of the party to intervene to avoid its defeat in the election.
Apart from Adeyeye, other prominent aggrieved party members are the Senator representing Ekiti-South in the Senate, Mrs. Abiodun Olujimi and Nigeria’s former Ambassador to Canada, Mr. Dare Bejide.
The trio, who have indicated interest in running for the office of the governor on the platform of the party in the July 14 election alongside a former aide and Commissioner for Justice to Fayose, Mr. Owoseeni Ajayi, jointly issued a statement describing the governor’s action as “pedestrian and undemocratic.”
But when our correspondent contacted Adeyeye on the peace initiative, he said he had yet to be informed about the committee.
“Well, I have not been contacted; but if contacted, I will take part. We are all desirous of winning the election and I can also tell you that I will win the primary.”
PUNCH
