The simmering crisis rocking the Lagos Chapter of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP is beginning to raise its head again, as as faction of the party has cautioned President Goodluck Jonathan and the Nigerian Senate against the appointment of Senator Musiliu Obanikoro as a minister.
A faction within the state PDP chapter believed to be loyal to Olabode George reportedly cautioned the president over Obanikoro’s behavioural tendencies and its implications for the party ahead of the March 28 and April 11 polls.
The faction also noted that Obanikoro- whose screening at the Senate has been stalled for the second consecutive time- will not add any value to the party’s chance of winning Lagos if appointed.
The faction which is also loyal to the former minister of works, Adeseye Ogunlewe, urged President Jonathan to keep any ministerial appointment for Lagos State pending the outcome of the re-scheduled governorship election, in case Jimi Agbaje loses at the poll.
A member of the faction who pleaded anonymity said the nomination of Obanikoro by President Jonathan has further polarised the PDP in Lagos State, adding that lots of party members jubilated last week when the National Assembly postponed the screening exercise of ministerial nominees till this week, hoping that Obanikoro would not scale through the exercise.
He said lots of party members were unhappy that President Jonathan nominated Obanikoro for a ministerial appointment without taking into consideration the mood of the party leaders and majority of the members in the state.
Part of Obanikoro’s actions that allegedly put the PDP in the bad books of Lagosians according to the source, include; his reaction to the governorship election he lost to Agbaje, his involvement in the alleged Ekiti State governorship election issue, disrespect to George and Ogunlewe before and after the party’s primaries and his behaviour towards members of the party in Lagos when he was the Minister of State for Defence.
According to him, “We were all witnesses to his behaviour when he was the minister of state for defence. He turned himself to a tin-god that nobody could control within the party, even where it was obvious that what he did sometimes were not what a minister should be found doing”.
Follow Us
