15th April, 2020
Adejoke Adeleye, Abeokuta
The embattled Chairman of People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Ogun State, Engineer Bayo Dayo has reacted to his suspension as the state factional chairman by some State Working Committee.
Dayo who was Kashamu’s ally said he fell out with him following his reconciliatory moves to unite the warring factions of the PDP in the state, a move, he said Kashamu rebuffed.
In reaction Dayo who spoke with newsmen at his residence in Ijebu-Igbo, Ijebu North Local Government Area of the state rubbished the “suspension,” boasted that only the National Working Committee of the PDP can take any disciplinary measures against him.
He particularly said the Ward and Local Government congresses earlier conducted in the state “can no longer stand” in the spirit of the reconciliatory moves he is championing.
On Monday, a release was issued on his suspension by the Publicity Secretary, Oyejide Sunkanmi citing alleged anti-party activities.
Also, it will be recalled that the party had in February suspended Semiu Sodipo as the State Secretary following an Abuja Peace Accord reached by the two factions of PDP in the state.
He, however, accused Kashamu as the mastermind of his “suspension”, using those he described as “amateur politicians.”
Dayo said PDP’s popularity has been dwindling in the state following the protracted crisis, but regretted that Kashamu “is not interested in the unity of the PDP.”
“We tried it in 2011, we failed. We failed in 2015. We failed in 2019. When Senator Buruji Kashamu contested for the Senate in 2015, he had over 120,000 votes, but he only had 70,000 votes when he contested governorship in 2019. It means that we are reducing in popularity and we should not allow that to continue.
“So, I thought if we can end the crisis, it will be a big glory before leaving office. If we can unite ourselves and work together, but Senator Buruji Kashamu does not want that settlement. He wants to go on and on and be giving us irrelevant orders. If gives order sometimes, whether we like it or not, we follow his order, but politics is not run that way.
“He is a very good leader, no doubt. But he is not a good politician. A good politician should be thinking of his followers. We should be thinking of all the young men and women that are behind us. If we don’t win the election, how are they going to benefit from the government?
“It’s not going to happen. That’s why I am working very hard so that we can be united so that the results of our election can change so that we can win Ogun State election come 2023.
“Politics is for a one-man show, it is for collective leadership, not for a single man to tell you this is what we have to do. That has to change if we must win election. We are changing it this time around.”
Dayo denied the allegation that he collected N50m in order “to sell” the party structure to the former House of Representatives, Ladi Adebutu’s faction, saying “I’m only interested in the unity of the party.”
Speaking of the congresses earlier conducted in flagrant disregard to the NWC’s directive, Dayo said “The congresses can no more stand because we are doing reconciliation. We don’t want to leave anybody out. It’s going to be all-inclusive. So, in our reconciliation efforts, we are going to divide positions in the ward, Local Government and the state.”
Now that the leadership of the party had agreed for the settlement within ourselves, I contacted the right people and we started dialoguing. During our dialogue, we discovered that we actually loved one and another but if you don’t stay together you cannot win any election.
And if we are going to the National Convention, we have only one voice. That’s what we are trying to do and that is what many are not interested in the unity are calling me names. But I can tell you at the end of the day, every member will be happy. All members of the PDP will be happy, even the populace will be happy because we have a formidable team. When you have an opposition that is very strong it will be very difficult for the government to make mistakes.
But now, our team is very weak because we are not using all the brains we are supposed to be using.