Zonal Congress: 743 delegates to elect new South-West PDP exco today

The PDP zonal structure has been run by a caretaker committee after the tenure of the elected leadership expired in 2020.

Emmanuel AmudaApril 12, 2021

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No fewer than 743 delegates from six states in the South-West geo-political zone are expected to converge in Osogbo, Osun State, on Monday, to elect the zonal leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The delegates are drawn from Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Ondo and Ekiti states.

Newsflash Nigeria gathered that the number of delegates in each state in which Lagos has 101 delegates. Ogun has 114; Oyo, 171; Ondo, 112; Ekiti, 115; while the host, Osun has 130.

As of Monday morning, all delegates from Lagos, Ogun, Osun, Ondo, Oyo and Ekiti were available.

Newsflash Nigeria reported that the tenure of the zonal leadership of the party ended in 2020, and upon the tenure expiration, a caretaker committee was put in place by the national leadership of the party to oversee the affairs until a zonal congress.

Newsflash Nigeria further reported that the race for the post of National Vice Chairman South-West is between the immediate past occupant Eddy Olafeso from Ondo and Taofik Arapaja, former Deputy Governor of Oyo State, who is from Oyo.

Meanwhile, about ten armed hoodlums mobilised from Ibadan, the Oyo state capital with different rifles were reportedly apprehended in Osun State on Sunday evening by police.

A source in Osogbo, the Osun state capital, said that those arrested were members of the National Union of Road Transaport Workers (NURTW), otherwise known as Motor Park Manager System (PMS).

The leader of the gang arrested was identified as Tiri Olowoposi. His second in command was said to be popularly called 50 litres. The two were arrested along with eight others.

A source said they were arrested at the venue of the congress with charms and amulets, and they were believed to have the intention of distrupting the congress today.

Newsflash Nigeria recalled that the election was earlier scheduled for last Saturday in Ibadan but the security threat in the state made the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party to shift it to Monday in Osogbo.

The governor of Oyo State, who is the leader of the party in the region, Seyi Makinde had threatened the leadership of the party not to take the congress out of Oyo state but the party dared him.

Our correspondent reports that the chairman of the PMS in Oyo state Mukaila Lamidi, popularly called Auxiliary, was also sighted at the venue of the congress on Sunday evening.

“As we speak, the ten of them have been handed over to the police. I cannot really say those behind the hoodlums. They were arrested at the convention venue with pump-action and charms. I will brief you as events unfold,” the source said.

Makinde and the former governor of Ekiti state, Ayodele Fayose have been at loggerheads over who between them should be the leader of the party in the South-West.