Barely three months to the 2019 general election, and with its poor showing in two governorship elections held in Ekiti and Osun states still affecting its popularity in the zone, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the South-West is faced with a fresh crisis with many of its chieftains threatening to dump the party any moment from now. Although the new disquiet in the opposition party is yet to become a full blown crisis, findings revealed that it is capable of tearing the party apart in the region if not properly managed.

According to The Nation report, former governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose, embattled factional governorship candidate of the party in Ogun State, Hon. Ladi Adebutu, and majority of the party’s chieftains who are Board of Trustee members in the zone, may give cold shoulders to both the PDP and its presidential candidate, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, if the situation is not addressed as they desire.

Findings within the party indicated that an alleged move by the Atiku camp to accommodate embattled Senator Buruji Kashamu and his camp in the PDP, contrary to the position of the National Working Committee (NWC) and most of the party’s leaders in the southwest that he remains expelled from the party, is at the root of the brewing crisis threatening to pitch many PDP leaders in the zone against Atiku.

The Nation gathered that following the failure of the national leadership of the PDP to amicably resolve the fictionalisation of the party in Kashamu’s Ogun State and the continuous victory of the Senator and his faction in court despite the insistence of the Prince Uche Secondus-led NWC that the Sikirulai Ogundele-led state executive committee, loyal to Adebutu, is the authentic leadership of the party in the state, may have prompted Atiku’s camp to seek a political solution to the crisis.

Sources within the camp of the former vice president, while confirming alleged ongoing discussion between the group and Kashamu’s men in Ogun State, said it has become very important for PDP to address the division within the party in Ogun State if it is serious about winning the 2019 general elections. Our source added that the ongoing talks between the two camps are not aimed at rubbishing any of the warring factions in the state.

Confirming the alleged moves to bring the Kashamu camp into the Atiku train to The Nation on Wednesday, a chieftain of the party in Lagos State, Adeyemi Kola-Daisi, who is also the coordinator of SouthWest Coalition for Atiku (SWCA), said the major interest of the PDP currently is to win the next presidential election. “The party is doing everything possible to liberate Nigerians from the stronghold of Buhari and his people.

•Excerpted from The Nation report