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Otun Tola Odulaja was Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice in Ogun State between 1992 and 1993 during Chief Segun Osoba’s first stint as the state governor. He is a former member of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). He chairs the party’s standing Disciplinary Committee in the state. In this interview with DARE ADEKANMBI, he explains why his committee recommended the expulsion of some members, the chances of PDP in the state and 2023 elections, Honourable Ladi Adebutu’s candidacy, among others.
You chair the disciplinary committee that recommended a governorship aspirant in Ogun PDP, Jimi Lawal, and others for expulsion from the party. Why did you take such a decision?
The sum total of their offences warranted that such punish measures be recommended to the State Working Committee of the party for onward transmission to the National Working Committee (NWC). We acted in strict compliance and pursuant to the provisions of the party’s constitution as enshrined in Sections 57 and 58. We had to recommend such measures because of the grievous offences committed. Jimi Lawal and co are senior party men who are supposed to know and be guided jealously by the provisions of the party’s constitution. In the PDP hierarchy, you will not find a single person with his cohorts organising and arranging a primary election. It is absurd and against the party’s constitution. The onus of arranging congresses is on the NWC which will send emissaries down to all the various states to supervise and authorize the outcome of such exercise. Before they will do that, they will have asked the states to conduct certain things and send them the results.
In this instance case, Jimi Lawal and his cohorts acted in contravention of this provision. They unilaterally organised what they call a primary which was even based on a fake list of delegates they claimed they got from INEC. This aspect of the matter is now a subject of EFCC investigation.
As a committee, we did all we could within the party’s constitution to appear before us to explain why they did what they did. We sent them text and Whatsapp messages and we have evidence to show that they saw and read the messages. We effected personal service of the notice of appearance which is also documented. Furthermore, we took up a page advert in Tribune newspaper to invite them for the meeting. But none of them showed up and we can’t wait for them ad infinitum. The assignment given to us is timeous. So, as a committee, we sat down, wrote our report and recommended what should be done to them.
So, the decision whether to suspend them or not now lies with the NWC?
It lies on the NWC to uphold or not to uphold our recommendations. The people we have recommended for expulsion and suspension have the right to appeal. That again, when they are confronted by the NWC via the state, they can appeal. Ours is to work in consonance with the party’s constitution and make recommendations accordingly, which we have done.
Jimi Lawal has described your committee’s recommendation as a joke taken too far. He said the issue over which the decision was based is already litigated with hearing date put fixed for November 30…
Nobody has taken them to court. If they have taken them to court, I am not aware because I have not been served with any court processes and I can’t wait for them. Remember, my committee is a standing committee of the party and not an ad-hoc committee. As events unfold with the party, we are called upon to look into the issues. I am a lawyer. If they have gone to court, then I would have been served court processes and I was not restrained by any court not to carry out the assignment for the NWC and the SWC relied on me that I am capable to execute this particular duty.
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On their reaction, I have nothing to say to it. We have concluded our assignment and it is now left with the PDP NWC to act. The issues of the court judgment they are relying on to organise their illegal rerun primary is before the NWC which has insisted that there will be no fresh primary in Ogun PDP. Why should they now on their own usurp the functions of the NWC by going on their own to arrange a makeshift primary? Is it proper?
It appears PDP is treading a familiar path and there are worries from some of the members of the party who are saying they don’t pray for a repeat of the 2019 scenario where the candidate recognised by the NWC and forwarded to INEC was not on the ballot…
As of the present moment when all primary elections had been concluded, the name of HonourableLadiAdebutu was on the list. This probably did not go well with Jimi Lawal and co who went to court through a proxy of theirs and the court adjudged the case the way it was brought to it. Then, they maneuvered through INEC to obtain a fraudulent list which was not approved by the NWC which has the sole responsibility of organising any primary. Then the court ordered that we they should go and have a rerun. But the NWC in its wisdom felt that there is no need for any fresh primary and the party has appealed the judgment. Jimi Lawal and co should believe in the people who are saddled with the task of running the affairs of the party. What we can then do as a body established to look into grievances is to recommend and we have so recommended.
Are you worried this crisis is eating into the time you have to prepare for the election?
We know where this petty crisis is coming from. The PDP in Ogun State has been well established now and is set on a very good footing by a decision we now tag consent judgment. All righteousness has been fulfilled, despite this odious political maneuvering. This Jimi Lawal is a personal assistant to Nasir el-Rufai who is an APC governor of Kaduna State. To all intents and purposes, he is a mole in our party. He came in to the party not long ago and he wants to upset everything. We know what is happening. The marvelous and rising support HonourableAdebutu and the PDP are getting from all over the state is something that is aching this Jimi Lawal. He is working for APC and we know the APC is trying to work through these people who claim to be our party members to destabilize our party, but it won’t work. PDP is on a strong footing in Ogun and victory is so certain for us. I can assure that very soon, LadiAdebutu’s name will be restored by INEC and everything will run smoothly. If you live in Ogun State, you will have been seeing how people are daily defecting to PDP to ensure that APC does not reign beyond 2023 May. We have been receiving defectors even from the ruling party. By the grace of God, Adebutu will take part in the election and win.
Governor DapoAbiodun has two former governors of the state, Chief SegunOsoba and OtunbaGbenga Daniel, on his side. Only former governor IbikunleAmosun is not supporting the governor. People say PDP can’t boast of such heavy weights…
I know Gbenga Daniel very well and I want to tell you that when he emerged as the PDP governorship candidate in 2002. I, OtunbaTolaOdulaja, was one of the people that worked relentlessly for him. He had no structure, but he came and he won, just because of the support of the people. As of today, we know Ladi has been in the process to become governor for some years now and by the grace of God, he will get to OkeMosan. This is somebody who is not in government, but has given transformers to about a hundred communities or more in the state, supporting people financially all over the state. And what do the people of Ogun State want? They want a governor who will take care of them. Right now, we are happy we have a very favourable comparison in the current governor of the state. What we are hearing all over is that the current governor is not performing. So, LadiAdebutu’s massively rising profile has become a problem for APC and that is why they are using all these moles to disrupt things in our party. But by the grace of God, we shall overcome and get out of this very soon.
Stakeholders in Ogun PDP are buoyed by the recent victory of PDP in Osun State. Is this where part of your confidence springs from?
We have something similar sort of in Osun and with what happened in Osun, we are confident that the people of the Ogun and other South West states who are tired of the broom party will reject APC in the 2023 general election. I will use the Osun scenario to also answer your earlier question about two former governors supporting the current Ogun governor. In Osun that boasts of the mighty Jagaban and Chief BisiAkande and the incumbent Governor GboyegaOyetola, APC could not win. It will be the same thing in Ogun. Adebutu will emerge the next governor of Ogun State in 2023.
An epic battle will be strongly fought in Ogun East Senatorial where we have Governor Abiodun, Hon Adebutu and OtunGbenga Daniel. The former governor is the APC senatorial candidate there…
Let me tell you, to a very large extent, we can’t close our eyes to the very good profile of OGD. I worked for him and I still love him so much. But as of today, he too knows what he is facing on the field. When we get to the bridge, we will cross it. I give credence to OGD, but then we shall face him in the election. Most of us who are his foot soldiers and who convinced the people of the state to work for him are in PDP, not in APC.
What is the strength of PDP across other districts? In Ogun Central for instance, Amosun appears to be firmly in charge…
One funny thing I want you to know is that as of last week when the new Olowu was installed, Amosun more or less blessed and adopted the PDP senatorial candidate, OlumideAderinokun, who was also there. Amosun has accepted him for the contest. I hope you are aware Amosun is not contesting. That has a lot of implications for APC if you know the way we play our politics in the state. Also, as of last week, the kind of support the movers and shakers of Ogun Central have been giving to LadiAdebutu is so much.
In Ogun West, there are tendencies. We have the Yayi factor/GNI factor, the Akinlade factor is there too. At the end of the day, we are going to divide the votes and PDP will win by clinching the largest chunk of votes there. Our senatorial candidate is from Ota area and the people of the area don’t joke with our candidates there too. That is where the votes are in Ogun West. As of last week, LadiAdebutu went on a familiarisation visit just to greet them at the local government and there was a massive gathering of people to welcome him. We don’t rent crowd in PDP because the party is popular.
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