National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Prof. Wale Oladipo, has accused Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State of causing confusion in the party.
Oladipo, who spoke with journalists in Abuja on Saturday, said the governor was behind plan to hold the South-West zonal congress of the party in in Akure in defiance of court order which asked the party to suspend the exercise.
While stating that the party had decided to obey the order of Justice Ibrahim Buba of a Federal High Court in Lagos, which restrained the party from going ahead with the congress, Oladipo advised Fayose to respect party authority like Governor Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State and others.
Oladipo said the National Legal Adviser of the party, Mr. Victory Kwon, had advised it to obey the order of the court, which he said was served on him (Oladipo) and the party on Friday afternoon.
He also said that the National Chairman, Sen. Ali Modu Sheriff who he said was not at the party secretariat on Friday when the order was served, had been notified.
“Governor Fayose is not a member of the National Working Committee of the PDP, but he’s causing confusion with his utterances,” Oladipo said.
“We are not dabbling into his government and he has no right to tell us how to run the party here. We have an order of the court stopping the congress. The governor cannot overrule the court.
“He should behave like other governors who do not dabble into the running of the party at the national level. He should learn from Governor Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State who respect the party and the President of the country.
“The order of the court was even published in three national dailies and therefore, he can’t deny he was not aware.
“Our national legal adviser who is the chief legal adviser of the part, Mr. Victor Kwon, has advised that we comply with the order and we are complying with it. We are not above the law of the land.”
He added: “Those who want to claim they want to organise any conference are doing that on their own, not on behalf of the party.
“Whatever comes out of it would be null and void because we are not monitoring it just as the Independent National Electoral Commission has also been informed about the order of the court.
“So, the commission will also not be part of any illegality. We definitely won’t be part of it.”
