Governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in last year’s governorship election in Ondo State, Eyitayo Jegede, is at war with some leaders of the party especially from the Southern senatorial district over position of national Publicity Secretary of the party.
Already, five persons have indicated an interest in the position, which was micro zoned to Ondo State.
They are Dr Eddy Olafeso; a former Commissioner for Information and Orientation Kayode Akinmade; a former Publicity Secretary in the South West, Hon Ayo Fadaka; a former State Director of Publicity, Hon Zadok Akintoye and a former member of the National Assembly, Barrister Debo Ologunagba.
Jegede was said to be rooting for Hon Ologunagba but PDP leaders from Ondo South led by Senator Nicholas Tofowomo are in support of Dr. Olafeso.
SUNSHINETRUTH had yesterday reported the disqualification of Olafeso by PDP committee.
The grouse of the Ondo South PDP leaders, according to sources, is that Jegede was responsible for picking the current state executives of the party led by Mr. Fatai Adams.
The Nation reports that a meeting held on Wednesday night failed to produce a consensus candidate for the position.
Another source fingered former Governor Olusegun Mimiko and former Deputy Governor Agboola Ajayi as pulling the strings in their bid to bounce back into political reckoning.
Mimiko and Agboola were said to be making moves to return to the PDP and the source said they are against the leadership of Jegede.
EDDY OLAFESO FIGHTS BACK OVER DISQUALIFICATION
Reacting to his reported disqualification on thursday, Dr. Olafeso denied taking the party to court to stop any convention.
He said they approached the court to interpret the constitution of the party on the controversy surrounding the tenure of the ousted National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus.
“This was done with good intention to save the party from further crisis. And the case has since been withdrawn from the court a long time ago to exhaust internal conflicts resolution mechanism for the overalls interest of the party.
“I wasn’t disqualified and no one was disqualified. We were not cleared by the screening committee and that is why we have appeal screening committee. The appeal has the final say. I have already appealed the verdict of the screening committee. We have evidence of withdrawal of the court case a long time ago.
“This is pure politics to scheme me and others out of the race. The appeal screening committee will sit on Saturday and we will be there to seek justice.
“All my supporters should remain calm and undeterred. I will contest this election and win with a very wide margin. The PDP is bigger than individuals and the party knows what is good for them. “
