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Rashidi Ladoja, former Oyo State governor, puts his plan to return again to the People’s Democratic Party in the state on hold as the plot to frustrate him leaks

The much-talked about reconciliation talks between Senator Rashidi Ladoja, former  governor of Oyo State, and People’s Democratic Party, PDP, leaders in the South-West has hit the rocks.  The former governor who is a stalwart of the Accord Party had initially indicated interest in returning to the PDP but quickly beat a retreat following what he term as irreconcilable differences between him and the current leaders of the party.

In the past few weeks, the PDP leaders in Oyo State and South-West at large, have been trying to convince Ladoja to come back to the PDP, which he left a few days to the 2011 governorship elections. The move was part of measures to reconcile all warring factions and rebuild the party in preparation for the 2015 governorship election in the state. The breakdown of talks is not unconnected with fears that factions still exist within the party despite all effort at reconciliation. Sources close to the former governor told Newswatch that Ladoja decided not to return to the PDP when it became evident that two parallel congresses were being planned to be held on March 17. Ladoja saw this development as unhealthy and a sign that the much cherished unity was still elusive in the party.

The reconciliation talks with Ladoja had started on a good note following a meeting with team of party stalwarts sent by former President Olusegun Obasanjo. The team was led by Tajudeen Oladipo, a former national vice-chairman, of the PDP. The team, however, failed to achieve its intended objective in the long run.

Ladoja, who was impeached as governor during Obasanjo’s administration, defected from the party after being denied the party’s governorship ticket in 2007. The leader of the team admitted that the party was wrong to have failed to reconcile with the former governor before the 2011 election. This, he said, affected the party’s fortune to a large extent in the last general election in the state. Oladipo said the party has realised its mistake and was poised to make amends. After the meeting with Ladoja, the leader of the team expressed satisfaction that the pary was on the road of becoming a united body once more. “I have the mandate of everybody, including Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, to talk to Ladoja about his return to the party. This meeting is likely to be the last as all arrangements have been made. The meeting we just had was very fruitful and successful. It is about the return of Ladoja to the party. Ladoja’s return is very crucial. With just few days to the election, nobody thought he would be able to garner such support. We have seen that he is a crowd puller. We can’t allow him to stay away.”

But while Ladoja was still discussing with the PDP leaders on the conditions for his return to the party, hundreds of his Accord Party loyalists from the 33 local government areas of the state, on March 16, held an extra-ordinary congress where they pleaded with him to abort any negotiation with the PDP because its leaders were not sincere in their talks. This is believed to have further dampened Ladoja’s enthusiasm to return to the PDP.

Bashir Lanre Latinwo, Ladoja’s media aide, told Newswatch that about two days to the PDP state congress in the state, there was a stakeholders meeting between his boss and all representatives of the Accord Party, AP, in the 33 local governments of the state, to review the proposed merger between the AP and PDP in the state, but after exhaustive talks, it became obvious that the PDP leaders were not sincere about the proposed merger and reconciliation.

Latinwo explained that the insincerity was evident in the way PDP leaders were responding to the conditions which Ladoja said must be fulfilled before his return to the party. He said his boss realised that the PDP leaders would not fulfill the terms of the negotiation and decide to back out.

Following the abortion of the talks, Accord Party has renewed its commitment to stand alone and pursue its intention of establishing itself in the state. Latinwo denied the insinuation that the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, in the state is trying to lure the former governor to the party. He only admitted that there was a good working relationship between Ladoja, Accord Party and the ACN.

But the breakdown of talks did not stop the PDP from conducting its state congress on March 17. The congress produced Olayinka Taiwo as the state chairman. But a parallel congress was also held on the same day by another faction of the party at Olubadan Stadium also in Ibadan. The factionalisation of the PDP was one of the factors that compelled Ladoja to cut short his reconciliatory talks with the party.

At the Olubadan stadium, members who aligned with Jumoke Akinjide, FCT minister of state, and Taofèek Arapaja, former deputy governor of the state, held their congress in which, Kunmi Mustapha emerged as the party chairman.

At the Obafemi Awolowo stadium, the approved venue by the party at both national and state level, the congress held after about six hours of meeting among the reconciled leaders of the party. The congress at Obafemi Awolowo stadium, had in attendance Adebayo Alao-Akala, former governor; Yekeen Adeojo, Teslim Folarin and Lekan Balogun, Mulikat Akande, House leader; Hazeem Gbolarumi, former deputy governor and Yinka Taiwo emerged as the party chairman.

Reacting to the parallel congresses held in Ibadan, Alao-Akala, former governor, said “any congress outside the one certified by the party headquarters is null and void.”

Dejo Raimi, an elder statesman and a foundation member of the PDP in Oyo State, also agreed that there was, indeed, a conspiracy in the party against the return of Ladoja. The medical doctor -turned politician, said to be the one who brought Ladoja into politics in Oyo State, said some individuals in the party did not want Ladoja back in party, because they were afraid they cannot march his pedigree, as a grassroots’ politician. “There is a conspiracy theory against him in the party. Some people do not want him. That we know. We cannot mince words here,” Raimi said.