Lagos PDP in crisis as Salvador, Bode George loyalists tango

Lagos State chapter of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is currently embroiled in crisis of leadership as some party faithful and leaders are calling for the head of Honourable Moshood Adegoke Salvador, the party state chairman, citing alleged breach of agreement, which they claimed had made those of them who belong to majority group take the position of minority group.

For instance, following the victory of the Senator Ahmed Makarfi group at the Supreme Court over the Senator Ali Modu Sheriff faction, the Makarfi faction in Lagos, to which Chief Olabode Ibiyinka George, who is former Deputy National Chairman of PDP belongs, sat with the Sheriff faction and reached a sharing formula by which party offices would be allocated. At the end of the parley, a sharing formula of 65/35 per cent of about 17 or so offices for the Lagos party executive was said to have been reached in favour of the Chief Olabode George, who belonged to the Makarfi group of PDP, while the Chief Aduke Maina group was left with the 35per cent slot. It was based on that agreement that Honourable Salvador emerged as the Lagos PDP chairman, being of George’s group.

However, to the chagrin of Chief George’s group, Salvador who was expected to ensure proper implementation of the agreement, had reneged and contributed to why the group now was turned into a minority whereby it now has to manage with just about 30per cent or less of offices and not 65per cent it rightly deserved. This is exactly the bone of contention and the reason why Salvador has been pitched against the other group consisted of leaders and party faithful who readily admitted they were fighting Chief George’s cause, demanding strongly that Salvador must implement the sharing agreement or he leaves the chairman’s position of the party.

The group, which has since declared total war against embattled Honourable Salvador, included former governorship aspirant of the party, Dr Adegbola Dominic; former Lagos PDP deputy chairman, Prince Ola Apena; former organising secretary for the party, Prince Abayomi Kuye; Pa Kehinde Koku, Chief Aderibigbe Shitta, Barrister Wale Onileere, party chairmen from various local government areas in the state, including Prince Niyi Aborishade, Elder Babatunde Agbaje, among others.

Indeed, to show the seriousness of call on Hon. Salvador to honour the agreement or quit his office, the party leaders and members have commenced exercise to passing “no confidence vote” on his leadership on basis of senatorial districts across the state. In the last two weeks, since they started the exercise, the Lagos West Senatorial District had taken their own shot, with the Lagos East the following suit last Thursday at Ikorodu town.

Some party youths led by PDP Youth Leader in Alimosho, Adewale Akinte, took their protest to the venue where party chieftains and members gathered, by displaying placards with various inscriptions such as: “Go Salvador, go Salvador,” “Salvador go, on 65-35 template we stand,” “Salvador, the end of a betrayal,” Salvador, pack your baggage and go,” “Salvador is working for APC,” “Salvador, where do you belong PDP or APC?” among others.

Leaders, who took turn to speak at the Alimosho rally which was held at the College Bus Stop along Ikotun-Idimu Road, called for outright removal of the PDP chairman, Salvador, saying that he cannot continue in office because he had violated the agreement in sharing of party offices which gave 65 per cent in favour of Senator Ahmed Makarfi to which the former PDP Deputy National Chairman, Chief Olabode George, belongs and 35per cent in favour of Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, but had instead chosen to favour Sheriff with even more than 65 per cent.

For Dominic, who is a former governorship aspirant of PDP, Salvador had chosen to rubbish Chief George in the constitution of the state executive, saying that instead of allowing the former PDP deputy national chairman’s group to take 65per cent of posts in the executive, he had offered them barely 10per cent.

The PDP chieftain said out of about 16 or 17 positions in the state exco, only three were shared out to the Makarfi/Bode George group that was supposed to benefit 65per cent of available positions, declaring that such a move on the part of Salvador was aimed at rubbishing Chief George, whereas he was expected to protect him (George) and not do otherwise.

Dominic accused the PDP chairman, Hon. Salvador, of jettisoning names submitted to him through collaboration of some unnamed people at the party national headquarters in Abuja, and replacing them with his own choice, insisting that the move was “to undermine Chief Bode George in the state, whereas Salvador is supposed to protect and not to rubbish him.”

Also speaking, the former organising secretary of the party in the state, Prince Abayomi Kuye, while lamenting the state of affairs of PDP under Salvador, alleged that the party chairman had continued to embark on failed inauguration exercises of party committees across the state, while claiming that Chief George gave him the authority to do so.

“The noise we continue to hear is that Oga (George) has been the one that said we should be inaugurating committees, he almost inaugurated those who were dead already,” he said.

• Oyelese is an APC mole in our party ―Oyo PDP

Other leaders, who spoke, including Elder Ogunrinde, Mr Onileere, among others, also passed a vote of no confidence on the PDP state chairman, with Onileere contending that if Salvador was not for 65per cent sharing of positions, then he was not qualified to be PDP chairman in Lagos.

Reacting to the “no confidence vote” passed on him at Alimosho, the embattled Salvador described those at the venue, who claimed to be chairmen from various councils as former chairmen and impostors, saying that they were those who lost out and failed to regain their positions at the last party congress and, therefore, became frustrated.

Salvador, who spoke from Saudi Arabia on phone, however, promised to hold a mega rally last Thursday, perhaps to demonstrate that he still controls the party and that chieftains and members calling for his sack were only ranting.

Besides, he denied that there was never a sharing formula in PDP Constitution, concerning who and who should be put in party offices, saying, “There was no sharing formula in PDP Constitution, it is a misconduct on the part of those who are saying so.”

But as Salvador later made good his promise to hold a mega rally in Oregun part of the state on that fateful Thursday, the Salvador-Must-Go group in the party moved to Lagos East Senatorial District in Ikorodu to also pass vote of no confidence on his leadership.

Notwithstanding that embattled Salvador was receiving into PDP camp, decampees from the All Progressives Congress (APC), the Accord Party and KOWA Party led by Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, a former KOWA local government chairmanship aspirant, the PDP chieftains in Ikorodu moved motions, voted through voice vote and arrived at resolutions read out by Prince Abayomi Kuye that “Salvador is no longer our chairman in Lagos PDP,” “We stand on 65/35 per sharing formula,” “No Local Government was given to any House of Reps member, that is a lie,” and finally that, “A new State Chairman would be named for the party in the state next week.”

Former deputy chairman of PDP in the state, Prince Apena, while speaking at the event, insisted that Salvador can no longer remain as the party chairman, declaring that the battle-line was already drawn.

The party chieftain, who recalled that he was a very close confidant of Salvador and instrumental to how he became the PDP chairman in his first term, said he had since parted ways with him, even as he disclosed that he warned Chief George not to field him (Salvador) for a second term.

“I have seen from close range that he (Salvador) worked against the chairmanship aspiration of Chief George.

“If Chief George accepts his apology now that he has started begging, I would not because we are not ready to work with him anymore.

“It is on 65/35 per cent sharing formula we stand, the battle has just started,” Apena vowed.

In his remark, Elder Agbaje said leaders and members had continued to move around to clamour for Salvador’s removal as PDP chairman in the state, declaring those party members that were not in attendance at Ikorodu’s event, but instead at the Oregun gathering, that was tagged, “Exco Meeting” were not known to Lagos PDP.

“Our leader, Chief George is with us here. Anybody that is not with us here is not of PDP. Very soon those people will know we are the authentic PDP, and then they would pack their load.

“What they are doing for Salvador at Oregun where they said they gather today is a send forth party for him,” Elder Agbaje said.

Also in his own remark, one of the PDP elders, Chief Koku, demanded that Hon. Salvador should leave the PDP as he had refused to implement the 65/35 per cent sharing agreement on the basis of which he became the party chairman in the state, while the PDP Chairman, Ojo Local Government, Comrade Adeyemi Kazeem, insisted that Salvador must leave the present office he is occupying, accusing him of contributing largely to the failure of the alliance struck between the PDP and Labour Party (LP) in the last local government election in the state.

Before the Ikorodu PDP rally, party leaders had at a Surulere event, met to celebrate another chieftain, Dr (Prince) Remi Akintoye, who became the PDP BoT member, and used the occasion to rally support for the party’ former deputy national chairman, Chief George, vowing that they would resist any attempt from any quarter to rubbish him. Akintoye, a former commissioner in Lagos is also former Acting National Secretary of PDP.

Long before now, the party exco led by Honourable Salvador, appeared to be divided as he and the party spokesperson, Mr Taofik Gani, have been at loggerheads on a number of issues, including the inauguration of committees and the party’s stand on the recent bill on Yoruba Language signed into law by the state governor, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode, with the issue resulting in press war between the duo. With this development, the gulf between the PDP boss, Hon. Salvador and the party spokesperson, Taofik Gani, has become widened and no more is any regular reactions read on pages of newspapers and aired on radio and television from leading opposition PDP on policies and programmes of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

Reacting to the news on recent defection into Lagos PDP, which Honourable Salvador was able to bring about at the Oregun gathering where he held a mega rally of the party, the former organising secretary of PDP, Prince Abayomi Kuye, maintained that it was nothing more than a fraud, saying apart from Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, a former KOWA local government chairmanship aspirant, who could easily be identified among the defectors, all others were unknown. According to him, Salvador should not be taken seriously, saying he should explain where he brought all other “unknown faces” from.

As the crisis rocking the Lagos PDP persists, nothing yet has been heard from the former Deputy National Chairman of PDP, Chief George, on whose behalf the Dominic/Apena/Kuye group have been championing their cause to see an end to the reign of Honourable Salvador at the party secretariat located in Sogunle, Ikeja area of Lagos. Will Chief George intervene soon to save Salvador’s job or allow the crisis rocking the party fester now that 2019 General Elections are drawing nearer and all other parties are warming up, with the state governor, Mr Ambode, drawing supports on daily basis from different sections of the state and appearing not to have any opposition ahead of the coming governorship poll in Lagos State? That is the question that not a few observers are seeking an answer to right now.