Group urges Oyo governor to look inward to resolve its lingering political crisis

A socio-political group, PDP Advocates for Peace and Justice (PAPAJ), has condemned media publications by PDP collectives which seemingly indicts the Legal Adviser of the party, Mr. Emmanuel Enoidem as well as gives the crisis of leadership in the Southwest region of the party an ethnic coloration.

The group urged Governor Oluseyi Makinde of Oyo to tame those it referred to as political ‘herders’ by either containing its leadership or sponsoring them on refresher’s courses to learn democratic decorum and principles.

In a press statement signed by Chairman of the group, Tom FredFish, PhD and Secretary, Eneh John, made available to Journalists in Uyo yesterday, the group said its members would not sit and watch a “faceless group attempt to destroy the legacies of our party through a sponsored hatched job.”

The group also warned that it would not allow the hard-earned reputation of the National Legal Adviser of the party, Mr. Emmanuel Enoidem, a lawyer of high reputation, to be cast into an abyss, on his attempt to maintain sanctity of law and order in the party.

It advised the Southwest Zone and Lagos State chapters of the PDP to search its internal vault and identify its self-inflicted problems, rather than look for scape goat in the National Working Committee of the party to blame.

“We read with utter disbelief, a press released by a group of interlopers under the name “PDP collectives” published in several media platforms and signed by one Professor Tejumade Akitoye-Rhodes, that the professional and exemplary role played by the PDP National Legal Adviser, Barr. Emmanuel Enoidem to sustain PDP’s rightful position as the true and foremost democratic party in Nigeria, will destroy the PDP.

“We are saddened that such statement emanated from a group headed by a Professor who should know better that, the PDP manned by the current NWC has gone beyond clannishness and petty politicking to a stickler for the rule of law and respect for the fundamental principles of the founding fathers of the party, based on the sanctity of the rights and freedom of its members to seek justice when they feel hurt.

“The pre-Uche Secondus PDP era witnessed some level of lack of internal democracy, where authoritarianism such as the one that the PDP collectives is advocating for, deepened crisis of internal democracy sign posing the authoritarian character of the then ruling PDP which was one of the reasons for its ouster by the APC in 2015.

“We are therefore worried that the likes of PDP collectives lurking around for how to destroy the party has not learnt any lessons from the errors of the past.

“We submit that the action of the PDP NLA in this matter is nothing short of heroic, for trying to maintain the sanctity of the party, hence should be applauded by all lovers of equity and Justice”. The statement read.

The group reiterated that the National Legal Adviser of the PDP is a loyal party man who has served the party both at the state and national levels meritoriously, stressing that it was laughable for a group of political ‘herders’ to accuse the NLA of indulging in activities that will undermine or destroy the party.