The Lagos State PDP Executive Council has dissociated itself from a purported party’s State Congress, allegedly conducted on Saturday by a group of elders in the state.
The State PDP Chairman, Mr Philip Aivoji, in company of some state executives, expressed the stance at a news conference on Saturday in Lagos.
Aivoji described the purported congress allegedly supervised by a group loyal to former PDP Deputy National Chairman, Chief Olabode George, as a charade, invalid, illegal and unconstitutional.
According to Aivoji, the tenure of the present State Executive Council is still on and will expire in March 2026.
The chairman said: “For today’s state congress, it’s unconstitutional, illegal and a wasted effort that cannot stand the test of time.
“Section 25 sub – section 1 of our party constitution on State Party Congress unambiguously states that there shall be a State Party Congress, which shall consist of (a) the State Chairman, who shall be the Chairman, as well as some other members, but I as the State Chairman of the party is not the chairman of the state congress being conducted by a group of the party.
“I, therefore, say that jettisoning this aspect of the party constitution renders the congress invalid, illegal and unconstitutional.
“The state exco members, hereby, disassociate ourselves from today’s illegal state congress, which was hurriedly put in place to satisfy the whims and caprices of a few leaders of the party at the expense of the teeming party members.”
He said group’s action would further to further polarise the party,
The PDP chieftain added that some loyal party members had vowed to leave the party “if this illegality is allowed to stay.”
“It is unfortunate that internal democracy that some of us are trying to build have been jettisoned for some parochial interests,” he added.
Aivoji said when the state” was erroneously listed among those holding congress today”, wrote to inform the National Executive Council (NEC) and the National Working Committee (NWC) about the anomaly.
“We were duly informed that the National Working Committee had excluded Lagos State from the list of states where the congress would be held today, but we are surprised to see this happening,” he said.
He recalled that the state PDP exco also requested for a formal communication that the state congress would not be conducted in the state until the expiration of the tenure of the current state executive.
He said no feedback had been received from the national secretariat on the request.
“The National Organising Secretary (NOS) promised to do via a letter , but to our dismay, till the conduct of the recently held Ward and LGA congresses, the NOS never sent the letter to the State Exco,” he added.
According to him, prior to the purported congress , no screening exercise was carried on the aspirants by the party.
He alleged that forms were handed over to a deputy national secretary, who,according to him, refused to hand over same to the state exco
“We later discovered that the forms had been given out to their cronies without screening by the appropriate party organ, which is the State Exco.
“Our complaints on this issue was ignored by the National Secretariat,” he added.
He urged the PDP leaders to stop dividing the party in the state with parallel congresses saying “this will not augur well for the party, but further cause division and chaos.”
“We are for peace and harmony. Toeing lines of chaos will negate what we stand for and we cannot be part of any arrangement that will cause chaos in the party.
“The present State Exco of the party in the state vehemently condemns the conduct ot today’s illegal state congress to elect new officers when the tenure of the current Exco has not expired.
“The conduct is wrong as it was hastily put in place by those who are afraid of a free and fair state congress
“None of the members of the current State Exco is part of this charade, where the party constitution was violated and due process was not followed,” he added.
Speaking, the PDP Vice Chairman (Lagos Central), Mr Hakeem Olalemi, urged party leaders to toe the path of peace and unity.
He said PDP should be seen putting its house together to rescue Nigeria.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the conference was attended by some PDP leaders, members of the state and local government executives, as well as party members.
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