By Seyifunmi Odunuga
Oyo State Governor, ‘Seyi Makinde, on Thursday, received the report of a five-man reconciliation committee, led by a former Governor of Osun State, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola.
The committee was instituted to reconcile all aggrieved members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the South-West Zone.
Governor Makinde, while receiving the report in his office, said that the report of the committee came at the right time, stating that the PDP needs to get all the tendencies together, not just in the South-West but across the country.
A statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Mr Taiwo Adisa, indicated that the governor appreciated the members of the committee for the job and for their selflessness, noting that the report would be implemented in the overall interest of the PDP in the South-West zone and nationally.
The governor said: “I want to thank the Reconciliation Committee for presenting the report. This is a confirmation that when elders are somewhere, they do not do their job halfway but they complete it. Actually, we have quite a bit to learn from our elders and from how you have done things in the past.
“Yes, the Congress has basically come and gone but our party is still in need of getting all the tendencies together, not just in the South-West but even nationally.
“Between when this committee was set up and now, I believe two governors from the party’s platform have defected to the APC. A number of our lawmakers at the national level; senators, members of the House of Representatives are defecting.
“So, this report is coming at the right time for us to go ahead, look at it and still try to pull our people together irrespective of the outcome of the zonal congress.
“The country, as a whole, is in dire need of men and women of conscience, who are thinking progressively about this country. That is why, a few days ago, the governors from the southern part of the country came together and, without thinking of party affiliations, we took far-reaching decisions in the interest of this country; in the interest of fairness, equity and justice for everybody in the country.”
The governor maintained that the report would be handed over to the zonal executive of the party, who, according to him, are now the rallying point for the party in the zone, saying: “As of the time this was put together, I was acting as the rallying point for our party in the South West. “But now, we have the zonal executive members in place and they are now the true rallying point for the people within the South-West.
“They will be invited; we will hand this over to them and we will probably call an expanded zonal meeting where leaders of thought can come together and put a plan in place for the South West and how we are going to interact with other zones in the country because we know that the National Convention is practically upon us.
“Two days ago, they brought out the proposed timetable for the activities leading to the National Convention of our party. We also have to come together, look at the position to take, relative to other parts of the country and what are our aspirations in the South West. So, this is just the starting point. We will still come together and try to articulate our position, which we will sell to the other geopolitical zones in the country.”
He added that the solutions suggested by the committee will lead to an “implementation that will lift our party in the zone and in the country.”
Presenting the report on behalf of the committee, Prince Oyinlola appreciated the governor for giving the committee the opportunity, saying the committee has been able to collate the problems and possible solutions.
According to him, the committee was put in place by the stakeholders of the South-West zone with the mandate to go round the six states of the zone and identify the areas of problems within the party, adding that the committee did all it could to reconcile the warring factions in all the six states within the zone.
He pleaded that the governor and party leaders should look into all recommendations made in the report, as, according to him, they will go a long way to keep the party in good stead in the South-West zone.
“I want to thank you for giving us the opportunity to come and present to you the reconciliation report of the committee, which was set up around November, 2020.
“We have been able to collate the problems and possible solutions. This team was put in place by the stakeholders of the South-West zone with the mandate to go round the six states of the zone and identify the areas of problems within our party and we did all we can to ensure we reconcile the warring factions.
“We were able to achieve that by visiting all the six states within the zone.
“We plead that you look at the report and execute the recommendations we made as it will go a long way to keep our party in good stead in the South-West zone.”
The members of the committee who were present at the event include, Prince Oyinlola [chairman], Barr. Olayinka Kukoyi [secretary], Chief Saka Balogun and Ambassador Omolade Oluwateru.
