One of the aggrieved leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party in Oyo State, Alhaji Adebisi Olopoeyan, has urged the National Vice Chairman of the PDP, Ambassador Taofeek Arapaja, to reconcile with a former Ekiti State governor, Ayo Fayose, and a former South-West PDP chairman, Dr Eddy Olafeso.
Olopoeyan, who together with Fayose supported Olafeso against Arapaja at a recent congress held in Osogbo, spoke at his residence in Ibadan on Saturday when the PDP vice chairman visited him.
The Punch reports that the visit came 48 hours after Olafeso visited Olopoeyan at his residence to celebrate Eid el-Fitr with him.
Olopoeyan urged Arapaja to reconcile with Fayose and Olafeso, and other aggrieved chieftains, to make the party stronger.
He said, “Your coming here to my home is personal. We have a very good political relationship, and to date, nobody, Seyi Makinde (Oyo State Governor) included, can disrupt our relationship. My not supporting you for the South-West PDP chairmanship was that you came into the field late and you also failed to seek my support.
“Chief Olafeso sought my support with everything and I gave him my support wholeheartedly without regrets. On the rift between Seyi Makinde and me, only the governor and I could sit together and resolve it.
“I was the one who convinced Makinde to return to the PDP. I was the facilitator of how PDP leaders accepted his governorship ambition. Therefore, only the governor and I can sit together and resolve the issue Makinde intentionally created.
“Most annoying is the local government election that should have been the fulcrum on which the settlement with the aggrieved leaders is placed. How I wish you, Arapaja, could prevail on Mr Governor to postpone the local government election for the governor to meet first with many of the aggrieved leaders.”
Arapaja promised to take action on the issues raised by Olopoeyan.
He said, “We all shouldn’t allow them to use us against ourselves. We shouldn’t for any reason give room for the lapses that happened in 2011 to repeat themselves because, in the end, we would be at the receiving end.
“It’s pertinent for all hands to be on deck. This party belongs to us all. We can’t afford to lose this state again, and apart from that, we all need to work together to achieve greatness for the region. We need to get back to having more states in the zone.”
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