NWC Blames Omisore For Osun SDP’s Internal Crisis

By Shina Abubakar

• Approves New Dates For Congresses

As the crisis rocking the Osun State Chapter of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) is yet to settle, the Chief Ademola Ishola-led executive has urged the public to disregard any state congress organized on Saturday, July 7, 2018, saying it is an exercise in futility. 

According to a statement signed by the party’s Chairman and Secretary in the state, Chief Ademola Ishola, and Elder Femi Awe, the said Congress was illegal.

The party leaders insisted that any congress being organized in the name of SDP is an affront to the judiciary based on the order of the court stopping the exercise pending the determination of a suit filed by some aggrieved members of the party.

They disclosed that while efforts were being made to resolve the court matter, the SDP National Working Committee in its meeting of Wednesday, July 4, 2018 in Abuja had set aside the last two congresses organized by Iyiola Omisore’s group.

Besides, they revealed that the NWC has approved new dates for congresses while new and authentic registers and congress forms have been released to the party executives in the state for fresh congresses.

The new dates, in a statement by the party’s National Organising Secretary, Rt. Hon. Emeka Atuma are: July 14th (Ward Congress), July 21st (Local Government Congress) and July 28th (State Congress) “and we advised all our members to go to their various wards to register as authentic members of the SDP”.

“It is sad to note that just one of the three aspirants contesting the governorship election under the platform of the SDP wanted to take the party by the throat and secure our party’s ticket through fraudulent means.

“Let it be known that Senator Iyiola Omisore’s plan was to install one of his cronies, Dr. Bayo Faforiji, the erstwhile factional Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the Chairman of SDP through a fake congress not known to the party’s national echelons.

“Going by the lists of his so called executive at the ward and local government levels, it was clear that he only appointed aggrieved members of his group who left the PDP with him in May this year.

“The world must know that before the arrival of Omisore and his group from the PDP to the SDP, we have lived together as a united and a peaceful family.  But, since his coming into the SDP, we have witnessed serious violence against our members by his supporters with several cases now being handled at several police stations across the state”, the statement added.

It would be recalled that, the National Chairman of the party, Chief Olu Falae cautioned Omisore over the ongoing crisis lingering in the party in Osun.

Chief Falae who spoke in Abuja during a press interview held at the SDP National Secretariat said, “it is disheartened that Omisore is struggling to hijack the party from those who are in the party before him, because these people have been in the party before Omisore seeks asylum in the SDP.”

He then implored the embattled governorship aspirant to move round the state to canvass for support from leaders, members and delegates of the party.

He then concluded that the National Executive, Board of Trustees (BOT) and Leaders of the party at National level will not accept such an unlawful congress from any quarter.