Amidst allegations that Governor Seyi Makinde has cornered all leadership positions of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the southwest zone for his allies to the exclusion of other interest groups within the party, aggrieved chieftains of the PDP in the zone are not about to end their face-off with the Oyo helmsman even as political parties prepare for the 2023 general elections, reports Assistant Editor, ‘Dare Odufowokan.
With Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo state now firmly in control of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the southwest ahead of the 2023 general elections, aggrieved chieftains of the party are left to grumble against his leadership of the party in the zone. Checks by The Nation revealed that in spite of the Oyo governor’s success at installing his allies in all the PDP leadership positions zoned to the southwest, he has been unable to placate most of his ardent opponents within the party in the zone.
“It is a fact to declare that Makinde, who incidentally, is the only governor from our party, the PDP, in the zone, have taken over the structures of the party in the southwest. But what he has not been able to do is douse the festering crisis within the party in the zone. Many of our leaders are still unwilling to associate with him and this is not good for the PDP as we move towards the 2023 general elections. We still need to reconcile many of our leaders with the governor in order for the PDP to maximize its new strength in the zone,” a source said.
But the governor’s supporters insist he is providing leadership for the PDP in the southwest in spite of what they described as the ranting of a few disgruntled elements within the party. “It is natural to have a few people unwilling to accept the reality of the day. We have a new order in Southwest PDP. It is an order where Governor Makinde is leading the original owners of the party, the members, to take decision and drive the party towards reclaiming its lost glory across the zone,” another source told The Nation.
To the Makinde, as the only governor of the governor, he is the leader of the party and should be respected as such. Many observers have wondered what his intentions are but he has been very consistent in claiming that his main concern is repositioning the PDP in the zone and returning it to winning ways. The Oyo governor believes the party needs to take some firm decisions regarding the way it does things if it is to work its way back into the minds of the people of the zone ahead of the 2023 general elections.
Responding to some of the allegations against him by his party men recently, Makinde had said, “What I want you to know is that I am also a man; I have flesh and blood and I make mistakes. Maybe there are some issues we need to address and we are trying to look at them. I know that wherever we need to make amends, we will definitely do that. I don’t want to believe that I did not do well with some members of the party but some may feel I have not done enough while some may feel I have done the best. But those who think I have not done enough could be right and I think we need to evaluate all of these. Moving on, there is room for improvement.”
