The ongoing crisis within the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ondo State escalated on Wednesday as the State Working Committee (SWC) clashed with the National Working Committee (NWC) regarding the suspension of the State Chairman, Fatai Adams.
Contradicting the NWC’s stance on Adams’ suspension, the SWC asserted that all levels of the party possess the authority to discipline executive members, whether at the ward, local government, state, or zonal levels.
The NWC had invalidated Adams’ suspension by nine SWC members, deeming it null and ineffectual.
Adams, suspended by the state party executives on Tuesday over alleged anti-party actions, vehemently claimed his position as the state chairman, attributing his purported suspension to political motives.
The party’s state publicity secretary, Kennedy Peretei, stressed that the SWC retains the mandate to reprimand the embattled chairman. Peretei criticized the NWC’s National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, labeling his statement as ignorant of the party’s constitution and unaware of the internal dynamics in the state’s party affairs.
“The State Chairman, Fatai Adams, is a member of the State Working Committee and can therefore be sanctioned in the face of his activities with flagrant disregard for SWC decisions. To this end, the suspension of Fatai Adams remains.
“Unfortunately, Hon. Ologunagba, who is from Ondo State, appears not to have up-to-date information about the party in Ondo State. If he had, he would have been the last person to issue such a misleading statement.
“Nine out of the eleven State Working Committee (SWC) members signed the suspension letter. That alone is a confirmation that Fatai Adams has overstayed his usefulness as State Chairman.”