Chieftain cautions against imposition

A Chieftain of PDP in Lagos State, Mr Dipo Olorunrinu, on Saturday cautioned the national leadership of the party against imposition in the ongoing harmonisation processes to avoid another crisis.

Olorunrinu, the PDP’s last man in the Lagos State House of Assembly, representing Amuwo-Odofin Constituency I, gave the advice while speaking with newsmen in Lagos.

He decried the decision of the National Caretaker Committee of the party to apportion 70 per cent of the party executives to federal lawmakers at the expense of grassroots choices.

He said that harmonisation process adopted by the party leadership should not amount to imposition.

The lawmaker spoke just as one of the stalwarts in Lagos, Otunba Segun Adewale, announced his withdrawal from the state chairmanship race on Friday over alleged imposition through ongoing harmonisation.

Olorunrinu said that the Sen. Ahmed Makarfi-led Caretaker Committee had indulged members of the House of Representatives from the state to produce 70 per cent of the party’s ward and local government executives.

He said that any attempt to concede 70 per cent of the executives to federal lawmakers at the expense of the people’s choice would not yield the desired results for the party.

According to him, such development will create another crisis capable of ruining the fortune of the party in the state.

“Grassroots should be allowed to choose their executives in a bid to return party to people.

“Our challenge in this harmonisation is that the kind of decision they have taken to solve the dissolved party executives in some states will be counterproductive.

“Why do we give a higher fraction of the executives at the ward and local government levels to the representatives of the people?

“It is unjust, undemocratic and unheard off. So, the leadership decision and style of approach has created problems already. If they (committee) are leaving on Dec. 9, it should not leave us with problems.

“Telling the House of Representatives members in Abuja to take higher share in the party executive is not fair; if we are sincere, we should allow people to go for congress so that they can choose their party executives.

“This is the mindset of majority of people and one of the determinants of taking over in 2019. Lagos State is a determiner with 24 million residents and we can’t rule out the state.

“ We should respect the people, because they own the party, we don’t own the party. We are just members and representatives,’’ he said.

According to him, the problem of leadership which brought the party to defeat in 2015 is still manifesting in the current harmonisation processes and may affect the Dec. 9 party’s National Convention.

Olorunrinu said he discussed with the national committee on the issues on Thursday that the way forward was to bring the party back to the people.

“We need to be free and fair and our decision must be transparent if we must move forward.

“We should avoid any agenda that is detrimental to the owners of the party, who are the people at the grassroots,’’ he said.

NAN reports that there have been pockets of grievances in the ongoing harmonisation processes in the party ahead of its Dec. 9 National Convention.