Lagos PDP: Buffeted by endless crisis

There seems to be no let up  in the crisis rocking the Lagos State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP). Rather than abate , the crisis is assuming  curious twists and dimensions.
Few weeks after the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party upturned the suspension of the state chairman, Mr Tunji Shelle, because it did not follow due process, the standoff has deepened.
Not a few would have thought that the intervention  of the NWC  would amount to nothing .A huge  celebration had followed the NWC decision but even those who participated in the mirth would agree now that their action was hasty . Such argument cannot be dismissed since  the leadership tussle is still raging, as the gladiators had stuck to their guns.
Trouble started in the party few weeks after the  general  election when 34 members of the State Working Committee (SWC) in an early morning meeting passed a vote of no confidence and replaced him with the vice chairman of the party in Lagos central, Mr Kamal Oloronuje.
The “renegade” members of the Lagos PDP SWC had accused the state chairman of leading the party to a “disastrous” outing in the general election.
The state  secretary of the party, Mr. Wahab Owo­koniran, who announced the sack of Shelle on behalf of other SWC members, claimed that the party could have won the April 11 governorship election in the state, but  for the manner the embattled chairman handled the  campaign. Although, the PDP won a total of eight House of Assembly seats and five House of Representatives in the election, it failed to clinch the much coveted governorship seat.
He alleged “We could have won the last gubernato­rial election if not for the bad leadership of Captain Tunji Shelle (rtd). He constituted an election campaign council and excluded the state woman leader, the state secretary and the rest of the executives. He only put him­self, his deputy, the publicity secretary and the former woman leader who is his friend.”
“ For the past 17 years we have been losing elections in this party and some of us are not getting any younger. And the same set of people who have been lead­ing us for the past 17 years still want to be leading us. So, we want to take our destiny in our hands. We are the architect of our own future. We want to win election in this state and I cannot see reason why we cannot win,” the party scribe further claimed.
The chairman did not keep sealed lips over the allegation.He debunked the claims and labelled his accusers bad losers. According to him, he  ran into problem with those seeking to remove him because, he did not allow them rig the last governorship primary of the party in the  state.
Shelle further explained that “efforts were made to rig the primary and I stood my ground to prevent the illegality. Up till now, the so called op­position within the system, has not accepted defeat of the primary. I tried as much as possible to curtail their excesses so that their action will not affect our chances in the general election, and this I was able to do up till yesterday when they did their coup, which eventually failed.”
Somehow, not a few will agree with the embattled chairman .The emergence of  Mr Jimi Agbaje as the party’s gubernatorial candidate  had generated hige hiccup in the party as the then  Minister of State for Defence, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro, who came second did not take his loss kindly. he had  alleged that the process that produced Agbaje was fraught with manipulations .
Although, Shelle had continued to beat his chest for  few victories the party recorded in the 2015 polls some party bigwigs were not prepared to give their ears to the claim. however. However,many agree with him that the performance of the party in the last poll  was  the best outing by the PDP  in the state in recent times. While some critics of Shelle do not controvert his claims that it was the party’s best performance since 1999 in the state, they frown at a situation where the chairman  gives the impression that the feat was achieved singlehandedly by him. A souce in the party  said the victories was a sole efforts of the candidates and party leaders in affected areas, adding  if  it is true that Shelle really worked for the party’s victory, how come the party lost in Eti-osa Local Government Area, where the chairman hails from.
But those who thought that they would upstage Shelle based on the outcome of 2015 and the sentiments that followed it got it wrong . Last  month, the national headquarters of the party in a statement by its national legal adviser, Mr Victor Kwom quashed the suspension of Shelle. The party said in line with its constitution, a state chairman being a member of the party’s National Executive Committee(NEC), can only be sanctioned by the NEC.  It advised the aggrieved members of the Lagos PDP SWC to channel whatever grievances they have against him to the national headquarters of the party.
The position of the party notwithstanding aggrieved members of the party are still insisting that the state chairman must go. In fact, Olorunoje in an interview with a national daily recently said his faction is still laying claim to the leadership of the party in the state.
A week after the party’s verdict, some members of the party met at the party’s secretariat in the state, where they reportedly passed a vote of confidence on Shelle.  In a statement issued by the state publicity secretary, Mr Taofik Gani said “A vote of confidence is hereby passed on the state chairman, Capt. Tunji Selle; he should continue with his job of directing the affairs of PDP in the state.” While noting that the leadership crisis was   “an unfortunate distraction and regrettable”, the statement urged party faithful to support the party leadership under the leadership of the embattled chairman. But the vote of confidence further polarised the party.
A member of the SWC who spoke on the condition of anonymity described the confidence  vote passed on the state chairman as a sham. The source noted that only 11 of the 51 members of the party’s SWC purported passed the vote of confidence.
He argued “Who are those with him? The state secretary, the woman leader, youth leader and the three senatorial chairmen and many others are with us. So, who are those who passed the vote of confidence”.
The source explained that the NWC did not absolve Shelle of the allegations levelled against him, noting that the national leadership of the party said the right procedure was not taken. He differed with the national leadership on the allegation that they did not follow due process the botched removal of Shelle. According to him    the aggrieved members had routed their complains properly  recalling that  on Monday September, 14, Shelle was served a letter from the NWC asking to come and defend himself of all the allegations made against him.
Gani in telephone interview with Daily Sun said  the issue is not about the number of members of the SWC that passed a vote of confidence on Shelle. He said what matters is the fact that the national headquarter of the party has ruled that that those who purportedly removed the state chairman, do not have the power to do so under the constitution of the party.
He explained that when the crisis started, the national secretariat invited all the parties in the dispute, but the other side refused to appear for the four times meetings were scheduled.
The publicity scribe, who denied knowledge of any letter from the party’s headquarters asking the chairman to be prepared to defend allegations against him should be able to make the letter public.
“It is a fact that the national secretariat have written to everybody to recognise him (Shelle) as chairman. The impasse has continued to fester because there is a commercial angle to the reportage, otherwise the matter is ended. It is like when the Supreme Court has decided on an issue. We will appeal to the media to support us.
“It is not a matter of who passed a vote of confidence. Even if the entire executive passed a vote of no confidence on him, it is possible for one person to impose himself as acting chairman; I don’t think it is fair. The national has written in black and white that he remains the chairman, that is a confirmation of the vote of confidence on him,” he said.
As the crisis rages, there is no doubt that no matter how the issue eventually ends, peace  may taken flight from the party until perhaps the expiration of Shelle’s tenure in March next year.