• Adeniran: I’m ready for the convention

From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja and Oluseye Ojo, Ibadan

Former governor of Oyo State, Senator Rashidi Ladoja, has declared he has not backed out of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) national chairmanship race.

He spoke through his media aide, Lanre Latinwo,  yesterday, against the backdrop of reports that he has withdrawn from the race.

Ladojo contended that the reports were masterminded by some aspirants who were uncomfortable and jittery of his candidature’s national acceptance; as the right man for the job.

“We are not surprised this is coming from them. Momentum is building very rapidly for the convention and many more of this kind of fabricated story will be dished out by losing groups and aspirants. Senator Ladoja has weighed all options before throwing his hat into the ring. As a former Board of Trustees (BoT) member, he knows the ideals upon which the party was built and will restore those ideals, when elected. In national politics, Ladoja is well known for his principled stand against unfairness.

“As national chairman of the PDP, Wadata Plaza will not be turned into a casino where money will exchange hands and democracy and people’s will be discarded.

“This is why well-meaning leaders and members are clamouring for his emergence as the man to lead the party to a glorious restoration, at this critical period.”

Also, former minister of Education, Professor Tunde Adeniran declared he is ready for the party’s national convention scheduled for tomorrow.

Adeniran, who is also in contention for the national chairmanship position said this when he spoke with newsmen in Abuja, yesterday.

Speaking through the Director General of his campaign organisation, Shehu Gabam, Adeniran expressed satisfaction with the party’s response to his petitions.

Besides, Adeniran said  he is also satisfied with assurances given by the Convention Planning Committee Chairman, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, of Delta State, that the event will be transparent.

“We raised series of issues in the past. But, the leadership of the party has demonstrated capacity.

“Most of the issues we raised were addressed, whether they were 100 percent or not, they have allayed those fears and we are grateful. We don’t have much to complain about. Most issues have been taken care of. We raised issues on the chairmanship of the electoral committee and the party responded…(On) other issues, nature will tidy them up.”

The former minister noted that in the last couple of weeks, he has interacted widely with delegates across the country and that the responses were encouraging.

Meanwhile, stakeholders from Anambra PDP, led by the former national publicity secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, have protested  at the party’s national secretariat over the list of delegates from the state.

Metuh noted that although Anambra state congress did not hold, he claimed a top party official has submitted a list of delegates to the national secretariat.

A petition signed by the  former PDP spokesman and 11 others urged the party leadership to disregard the purported delegate list from Anambra, in the interest of peace.