PDP crisis: CP hands over party secretariat keys to Bode George

By Chinelo Obogo

Lagos State Commissioner of Police (CP), Mr. Fatai Owoseni, yesterday handed over keys to the state secretariat of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to a member of the party’s Board of Trustees (BoT), Chief Bode George.

The Lagos Police Command had recently barricaded the party’s secretariat and shut out staff and members of the party loyal to the ousted factional state chairman, Segun Adewale following a letter issued from the party’s national secretariat and addressed to the CP.

Following the ruling of Court of Appeal which upheld the leadership of the now ousted acting national chairman, Ali Modu Sheriff, he (Sheriff)  had issued a letter to the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC) affirming leadership of Adewale in the state.

But, after the Supreme Court judgment which affirmed the leadership of the Ahmed Makarfi-led National Caretaker Committee, the National Secretary of the party, Chief Ben Obi, wrote a letter to the commissioner of police, requesting his assistance in ensuring that the Supreme Court judgment was enforced and also directed that the keys of the secretariat be handed over to Bode George in the presence of any other BoT member. After he received the keys, George said he would work hard to ensure that peace returns to the state chapter of the party.

He said: “I have collected the keys in the presence of Mrs. Aduke Maina, who is also a member of BoT, which was part of the instruction sent from the party secretariat. I would now hand over the keys to those authorised to operate the secretariat. The notion that there is crisis in Lagos is not true. We held a meeting at the national secretariat and it was decided that we have only one executive in Lagos. We still have the national caretaker committee that will decide what is to be done. As a BoT member, I have carried out the instruction I was given and I am going to hand over the keys to the legitimate state executive headed by Moshood Salvador. If there are people who have grievances, there are ways that it can be addressed.

“Ben Obi wrote clearly in the letter addressed to the CP that the secretariat keys should be handed over to Chief Bode George and any other BoT member.  Mrs. Aduke is now saying that we should wait before meetings are held at the secretariat, but that is against the directive of the national executive.

“In the weeks ahead, the issues would be sorted out, we need a lot of patience at this game because we need to know the unseen hands that are undermining the NEC meeting, Lagos was not listed as a crisis state.”

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