There was drama at the secretariat of the Peoples Democratic Party in Lagos on Monday as 34 out of the 39 members of the State Working Committee sacked the state chairman of the party, Capt. Tunji Shelle (retd.).
The members, who were escorted to the premises by a team of policemen, appointed the vice chairman of the party in charge of Lagos-Central, Mr. Kamaldeen Olorunoje, as the acting chairman.
However, in a swift reaction, the leader of the PDP in Lagos, Chief Bode George, said those behind the ‘charade’ would be sanctioned for anti-party activities.
The secretary of the party, Mr. Wahab Owokoniran, who read out 14 allegations against Shelle, accused him of mismanaging the campaign funds of the party and taking some decisions that were detrimental to the party.
He said, “He (Shelle) unilaterally rendered the party structure inactive before, during and after the 2015 elections without the approval of the state executive committee.
“Funds were allocated to various party members and officials according to his wishes instead of seeking the approval of the SWC.”
Shelle was also accused of “surrendering the responsibility of the party to an interest group within the party during the elections.”
The SWC accused Shelle of sidelining the treasurer and the state secretary (Owokoniran).
The committee accused Shelle of manipulating the outcome of the party’s primaries last year which, they claimed, ultimately affected the performance of the party at the polls.
Owokoniran said for instance, the lawmaker representing Mushin constituency 1, Mr. Dauda Kako-Are, who was a member of the All Progressives Congress, wanted to defect to the PDP but Shelle prevented him from defecting, causing the lawmaker to contest on the platform of the Accord Party. Kako-Are went on to win the election.
In his acceptance speech, Olorunoje said he would look into the cause of the party’s poor performance before the local government election.
As the conference ended, some irate youths demonstrated outside the secretariat, chanting protest songs.
The youths, led by one Shamsideen Lawal, vowed not allow the new chairman and his team to function.
George told our correspondent on the telephone that the members of the SWC had no power to remove Shelle.
George said the members of the SWC would be sanctioned for anti-party activities.
He said, “They definitely will be sanctioned. It is like trying to do a coup, which definitely has no constitutional backing, and you fail. They will be sanctioned for anti-party activities.”
George said only the National Executive Committee had the power to remove a party chairman. He added that Owokoniran was only an acting secretary and thus had no power to call such a meeting.
George said the SWC should be praising Shelle for leading the PDP to its best performance in Lagos State. He added that the party needed to be more united than ever as it had a strong case at the Election Petitions Tribunal.
Shelle, in a text message sent to our correspondent, denied the allegations levelled against him. He said his removal was comical, adding that it was null and void.
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