2015: Controversy trails Bankole’s Selection ..

FROM: Sayyourmind9ja

The national leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) may have finally picked the former speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole as the consensus governorship candidate of the party in Ogun State.

Our correspondent gathered that Bankole was selected as the PDP flag bearer for the state after several hours of deliberations between the PDP national leadership and the party’s stakeholders in the state.

The development has however, sparked a fresh row as the Chairman of the Organisation and Mobilisation Committee of the PDP in the South West, Prince Buruji Kashamu and the Ogun State chapter of the party said no such agreement had been reached.

It was however, learnt that the meeting where Bankole was picked as the party’s consensus flag bearer in the 2015 election held at the Presidential Villa, Abuja on Wednesday night and was chaired by the National Chairman of the party, Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu as well as other national leaders of the party.

The meeting, the source disclosed also had in attendance Bankole, former governor of Ogun, Otunba Gbenga Daniel; ex-minister of state for finance, Senator Jubril Martins-Kuye while Prince Kashamu did not attend.

Other agreements reached at the meeting included the sharing of the other elective positions in the state between Bankole, Daniel and Kashamu.

The meeting was also said to have agreed that while the Ogun Central senatorial slot be reserved for the wife of foremost Ijaw leader, Dr. Bisola Sodipo-Clark, the Ogun East Senatorial ticket should be handed over to ex-governor Daniel.

Kashamu however, is to determine who gets the Ogun West Senatorial ticket.

Also, the nine House of Representatives slots are to be shared equally amongst the three party big wigs in Ogun.

Each of them is to take three House of Representatives slots.

Similarly, 15 out of 26 State House of Assembly seats have been reserved for Bankole while Daniel and Kashamu will control the remaining 11 seats. But while Daniel would take six of the seats, Kashamu is to control the remaining five.

The Secretary of the PDP in the state, Alhaji Semiu Sodipo however, said there was nowhere such a meeting was held and such agreements reached.

According to Sodipo: “No element of truth in it. It is not visible, it is not possible. It’s total lies, it’s malicious.”

Also, Kashamu who spoke through his media assistant, Austin Oniyokor denied being aware of the meeting and the agreement reached.

Oniyokor said, “He was not part of the meeting and was not a party to the meeting if it ever held. He believes strongly that the information is not correct. It is part of the kite being flown by Bankole and his people in their desperate efforts to circumvent due process. Everybody knows that in a democracy you can only talk about consensus when all aspirants agree to such arrangement. Where you have a dissenting voice, even by one aspirant, then it cannot work.

“To the best of my knowledge, all the aspirants for the governorship seat in Ogun State are still very much in the race. I do not know where this idea of consensus is coming from.”

End.