The Osun State Chapter of Social Democratic Party (SDP) has been thrown into confusion as a faction of it advised the public to disregard any state congress being organized on Saturday, July 7, 2018 saying it is an exercise in futility.
In a statement the party’s Chairman and Secretary in the state, Chief Ademola Ishola and Elder Femi Awe, described the said congress as illegal, saying that any congress being organized in the name of SDP is an affront to the judiciary, based on the order of the court stopping the exercise pending the determination of a suit filed by some aggrieved members.
They said that while efforts are being made to resolve the court matter, the SDP National Working Committee (NWC) in its meeting of Wednesday, July 4, in Abuja had set aside the last two congresses organized by Iyiola Omisore’s group.
They said that the new dates, in a statement by the party’s National Organizing Secretary, Rt. Hon. Emeka Atuma are July 14th (Ward Congress), July 21st (Local Government Congress) and July 28th (State Congress)
They added that the NWC has also approved new and authentic registers even as congress forms have been released to the party executives in the state for fresh congresses.
“We advise all our members to go to their various wards to register as authentic members of SDP. It is sad to note that just one of the three aspirants contesting the governorship election under the platform of SDP wanted to take the party by the throat and secure our party’s ticket through fraudulent means.
“Let it be known that Senator Iyiola Omisore’s plan was to install one of his cronies Dr. Bayo Faforiji, the erstwhile factional Chairman of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the Chairman of SDP through a fake congress not known to the party’s national echelons.
“Going by the lists of his so called executives at the ward and local government levels, it was clear that he only appointed aggrieved members of his group who left the PDP with him in May this year.
“The world must know that before the arrival of Omisore and his group from the PDP to SDP, we have lived together as a united and a peaceful family. But since his coming to into the SDP, we have witnessed serious violence against our members by his supporters with several cases now being handled at several police stations across the state.
It would be recalled that the National Chairman of the party, Chief Olu Falae cautioned Omisore over the ongoing crisis lingering the party in Osun state.
Chief Falae who spoke in Abuja during a press interview held at SDP National Secretariat said: “it is disheartened that Omisore is struggling to hijack the party from those who are in the party before him, because these people have been in the party before Omisore seek asylum in SDP.”
He called on the embattled governorship aspirant to move round the state to canvass for support from leader, members and delegates of the party, warning that the National Executives, Board of Trustees (BoT) and Leaders of the party at National level will not accept such a lawlessness congress from any quarters.
