PDP Govs Segun Mimiko, Ayo Fayose , Other Southwest Leaders To Meet In Akure On Monday Over Choice Of Region’s Candidate For Position Of Party’s National Chairman

Emerging details have it

Governor Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State, his Ekiti State counterpart, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, and other leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party from the South-West, will meet in Akure, the Ondo State capital on Monday, to pick a consensus candidate among those running for the office of the national chairman of the party.

The national convention of the party will hold in Port Harcourt, Rivers State on August 17 where national officers of the main opposition party are expected to be elected.
Ahead of the convention, the Expanded National Caucus of the party had zoned the office of the national chairman to the southern part of the country.

Leaders of the party from the entire southern region met at Port Harcourt on Thursday where they said the office should go to the South-West, which is the only zone out of the three zones in the region, that had yet to produce the national chairman of the party.
Already, two formidable candidates from the zone have openly indicated their interest in the race.

The candidates are a former Deputy National Chairman of the party, Chief Bode George and a former Minister of Education, Prof. Tunde Adeniran.

But while George had paid the mandatory N1m nomination fee and picked his nomination form at the party’s temporary secretariat in Abuja, Adeniran said he would pick his own on Monday.

There are rumours that other candidates are still consulting and could pick their nomination forms from this week.

Those who were believed to be nursing the ambition are, a former governorship candidate of the party in Lagos State, Mr. Jimi Agbaje and a former Minister of Youths and Sports, Prof. Taoheed Adedoja.

George and Agbaje are from Lagos State while Adeniran and Adedoja are from Ekiti and Oyo States respetitively.

The Akure meeting is believed to be crucial as other offices apart from that of the national chairman which had also been zoned to the region, would be shared.

The two offices are that of the National Treasurer and Deputy National Publicity Secretary.
The meeting, it was gathered, would also allocate the state or states that should produce the zonal vice chairman.

A former Minister of Transportation, Chief Ebenezer Babatope, who confirmed that invitations had been sent to those expected to be at the meeting, described it as crucial.
Babatope said that the meeting would afford the members of the party to critically peruse the credentials of those interested in the offices, especially that of the national chairman.
He said, “All of us are going to Akure on Monday where we are going to discuss on those that will represent us at the national headquarters of the party in Abuja.

“Now that we have the opportunity to present the national chairman, we must present someone that is acceptable to the generality of members of the party and also, such a person must represent us well.”

Punch