Here's why PDP is a joke

A month before the Governorship election in Ondo State, the political party is still torn between Eyitayo Jegede and Jimoh Ibrahim.

There’s some déjà vu to hark back to here.

Before the Edo Governorship election last month, PDP primaries threw up two standard bearers in Osagie Ize-Iyamu and Matthew Iduoriyekwemwen.

Ize-Iyamu was thrown up by the Ahmed Makarfi faction while Iduoriyekwemwen was the candidate from Ali Modu Sheriff’s stable.

The PDP went on to lose the Edo contest partly because it settled for Ize-Iyamu barely weeks before voters cast their ballot in anger.

Stupidity is actually doing the same thing and expecting different results.

PDP heads into the November 26 Governorship election in Ondo State not sure who will fly its flag between Jimoh Ibrahim and Eyitayo Jegede.

On October 14, 2016, Justice Okon Abang of the Federal High Court, Abuja, ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to recognize Ibrahim as the PDP candidate for the Ondo Governorship election.

But Ibrahim has just told the world that INEC is demanding a $1M bribe from him before the order will be effected.

ALSO READ: Did INEC demand $1M bribe from businessman?

The Makarfi faction won with respect to Edo when Ize-Iyamu’s name made it into the ballot, but if Ibrahim’s name is eventually on the ballot, Modu-Sheriff’s faction would have won in Ondo.

To situate the raging confusion in the Umbrella party, the PDP still doesn’t know who its authentic chairman is. It held disparate conventions in different cities earlier in the year, throwing up more Court orders, thugs and confusion.

Banji Okunomo, who is the Secretary of the Ondo State Chapter of the PDP, has described Jimoh Ibrahim as “an attention seeker” and "confusionist".

Said Okunomo: “To those who are following the trend of political happenings in Ondo state, it is unarguable that the business mogul (Jimoh Ibrahim) is a confusionist who is merely ranting.

"Jimoh Ibrahim obviously, seeks attention in his usual manner. He probably thinks he could deploy the trial and error method to the politics of Governorship election in Ondo State like he does to many of his failed businesses.

"How on earth can a Jimoh Ibrahim wake up one morning and talk about an ‘ambition’? What ambition? An ambition to ground the government or economy of Ondo State?

"Or is it an attempt to defraud our dear sunshine State or its peace loving people by trying to spoil the good work that is going on?”

Okunomo added that: “Again, the much talked about Abang court order does not have any relevance to the 2016 Governorship election in Ondo State and the Governorship primary election of the PDP in Ondo State.

“INEC is under the comfort of the law to retain the name of Eyitayo Jegede as the candidate to fly the ticket of the PDP in the governorship election”.

Jegede has said Ibrahim is not a PDP member.

“I say it frankly that I don’t know if he is a member of our party. I do not know at what point again that he became a member of the Peoples Democratic Party. From what I have seen and by his own clear admission, he represented to the whole world that he is in Accord Party”.

After a contentious primary of its own, the APC appears to have thrown its weight behind Rotimi Akerodolu, leaving Olusegun Abraham (Bola Tinubu’s candidate) and Olusola Oke (who has now joined the AD), to lick their wounds.

A month to the Ondo Governorship election, Jimoh Ibrahim is still barking at INEC about his candidacy and PDP isn’t sure which of Makarfi and Sheriff is calling the shots from Wadata Plaza.

Exactly how to head to war!

The PDP is well on its way to losing the Ondo Governorship election like it did in Edo.