Daily Independent (Lagos)
Oladele Ogunsola
20 October 2008
Ibadan — The on going reconciliation within the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Oyo State is being endangered by the attitude of stakeholders in the party.
This was the opinion of one of the major players in the crisis and a former Senator of the Federal Republic, Lekan Balogun, in a chat with Daily Independent over the weekend in Ibadan.
Balogun who was installed as the Ekerin Olubadan of Ibadan land by the Olubadan, Oba Samuel Odulana Odugade 1 last Friday, explained that the concept of the reconciliation was genuine but the extent to which it would succeed depends on the sincerity of all stakeholders.
According to him, "it may be too early to say categorically how the efforts would end, going by the way some of the stakeholders have been carrying on. Some people are unnecessarily delaying the process, but I can tell you that it was a well-conceived idea that would lead the party to a greater height in the state".
It would be recalled that the ruling party in Oyo State has been engrossed in intra-party crisis since 2004, shortly after it came to power in the state in 2003, leading to many factional cleavages within the fold.
Immediately after the death of the strongman of Ibadan politics and a chieftain of the party, Lamidi Adedibu, the process of reconciliation began in the party in earnest with the inauguration of the Shuaibu Oyedokun-led reconciliation committee.
This resulted in the formation of an ad-hoc committee headed by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Olayiwola Olakojo, which was saddled with the responsibility of working out the modalities of recalling aggrieved member.
Although Balogun expressed confidence in the ad-hoc committee, he said was uncomfortable with what he described as "funny game" being played by some of the key actors, which antics he contended, has the likelihood of derailing the reconciliation efforts.
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