By Agunwa Uzendu, Abuja.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has appointed Gov. Diri Duoye of Bayelsa State as Chairman of Osun State Governorship Campaign Council.
National Organizing Secretary of the party, Hon. Umar Bature in a statement on Monday said that the team which will be working towards the actualization of the election of Sen. Ademola Adeleke as the next governor of Osun State, will be inaugurated at the party’s National Headquarters, Wadata House, Abuja on Wednesday.
According to the statement, all the PDP governors except Sen. Ifeanyi Okowa who is the Vice Presidential Candidate of the party are members of the committee including Deputy National Chairman South Dan Orbi, the South West Zonal Chairman, Amb. Taofeek Arapaja, members of the National Working Committee and other stake holders.
The Independent National Electoral Commission has affirmed that 15 political parties will participate in the battle for the Bola Ige government House, which will hold on the16th of July.
It is believed that two dominant political parties, the All Progressives Congress (APC) where the incumbent governor, Adegboyega Oyetola is seeking re-election and Sen. Adeleke’s PDP are the leading contenders.
The APC candidate has consolidated political power in the last four years he has been in office. Even though he narrowly won the election in 2016 after a fierce political gang up against Sen. Adeleke, thanks to the then candidate of Social Democratic Party (SDP) Senator Iyiola Omisore, who is now national secretary of APC.
Oyetola will also contend with possible moles and aggrieved politicians within the APC in the course of the election. APC members loyal to minister of Interior, Ogbeni Aregbesola under the aegis of The Osun Progressives (TOP) are not featuring in Oyetola’s campaign. They have been aggrieved at the way their political leader was treated by the governor, such that a series of interventionist moves by some party stakeholders failed to achieve results.
Two other parties, the Accord Party (AP) and the Labour Party, (LP) would also make significant impacts if they work assiduously towards realising their ultimate goal.
The gubernatorial flagbearer of the Accord Party, Dr. Akin Ogunbiyi defected from the major opposition PDP to Accord when he lost the primary election.
Furthermore, Rt.Hon. Lasun Yusuf, a former deputy speaker, House of Representatives, pulled out of the All Progressives Congress (APC), a platform he rode to the House of Representatives. He has since joined the Labour Party, which is considered the rave of the moment.
The former deputy speaker patiently participated in the APC direct primary election and lost before switching to Labour Party high was searching for a credible and formidable politician as candidate at the time.
