Ahead of the July 16 gubernatorial election in Osun state Dotun Babayemi, the factional gubernatorial candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has settled his rift with Senator Ademola Adeleke.
TheNewsGuru.com recalls that INEC released the names of party’s guber contestants and it picked Ademola Adeleke as PDP’s party bearer in the state.
This didn’t sit down well with Dotun Babayemi who filed a case in court challenging the candidature of Senator Ademola Adeleke.
In a statement made available by Olawale Rasheed on behalf of Senator Adeleke after the peace meeting held on Sunday, it was revealed that the move was in line with Adeleke’s philosophy of brotherhood and partnership for all in the interest of the Osun people.
The meeting which was brokered by the national leadership of the party, was aimed at seeking a united front for the PDP to ensure a landslide victoryat the polls.
Adeleke who declared that he was in support of inclusive efforts geared towards electoral victory for the party stressed that defeating the APC was the most important task before all the party leaders.
In his words, “I support an all-inclusive effort towards electoral victory.
“To this end, I welcome my colleagues who may be aggrieved for one reason or the other. As I always reiterated, we are not enemies but the same political family with a common political enemy. Defeating the APC is therefore the most important task before all leaders of PDP for now.
“As our national chairman always noted, Osun is a gateway to PDP victory at 2023. Our victory in Osun is the much-needed energy for the party to win national elections. We are therefore calling on all our leaders to forget the bickering of the past and join hands to record success in July.”
Meanwhile, Kayode Oladeji, the Media Director for the Babayemi Campaign Organisation disclosed that the meeting had nothing to do with the disagreement over the gubernatorial primary of the party.
But when contacted for more clarification on the meeting, the Director of Media, Omooba Dotun Babayemi Campaign Organisation, Kayode Oladeji, said the meeting had nothing to do with the disagreement over the governorship primary of the party.
Oladeji posited that the meeting was for the party to work in unison inorder to get a favourable result at the polls.
According to him, “The committee met with the two factions over the forthcoming presidential primary.
“There is a delegate election coming up on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday for the presidential primary. The meeting agreed on the national delegates. The two groups divided the Osun slots, instead of going for primary they have both agreed.
He denied that his principal had stepped down, adding that the court will decide in due course who the authentic flag bearer would be.
Despite INEC recognition of Adeleke, Dotun Bayemi still lay claim to be the authentic winner of the PDP’s ticket
Also, Adeleke despite the INEC recognition has been facing court suits instituted to challenge his candidature.
However, the court will give its verdict before the July 16th gubernatorial election in Osun state.