The self appointed leader of the Concerned Peoples Democratic Party
Youths (CPDPY), Aderemi Olusegun, yesterday, proclaimed himself as the
national chairman of the party.
Olusegun, who, Tuesday, gave one
week notice to the national leaders of the party to resolve their
differences, yesterday, stormed the PDP secretariat of the party, in
Abuja, and took over the building.
Olusegun warned the embattled
chairman of the party, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, and the caretaker
chairman, Senator Ahmed Makarfi, not to go close to the secretariat.
The
PDP national secretary and national auditor, Professor Wale Oladipo and
Adewole Adeyanju, respectively, who were part of the National Working
Committee (NWC) members sacked recently in Port Harcourt, narrowly
escaped being lynched by the angry youths, who discovered that the two
officials remained seated in their office at the secretariat.
Our
correspondent, who monitored the entire drama, observed that the two
officials of the party, having understood the implication and gravity of
the protest inside the secretariat, attempted to go out secretly, but
were trapped by the angry protesters.
Some of the protesters
declared that Oladipo and Adeyanji must be dealt with for remaining in
their office along with Sheriff, after the expiration of their tenure.
They
claimed this was a move to destroy the party ahead of the Edo, Ondo
states governorship election and the 2019 general elections.
Our correspondent overheard Oladipo begging the youths, saying: “Allow me to go, please. I won’t come back again.”
By
1:38pm, Oladipo’s vehicle was sneaked out through the back gate of the
secretariat and, in few minutes time, the former officials were smuggled
out of the tension-laden building, to the nearby Sky Memorial building,
from where they escaped.
However, Adeyanju’s blue Toyota Camry, with registration number Lagos APP 767CK was left inside the secretariat.
After
the duo had left, the youths announced the takeover of the secretariat
and called on the Board of Trustees (BoT) to organise a convention
within three days to elect new leaders of the party.
They locked
all the doors into the main party offices and handed over the keys to
the BoT Chairman, Senator Walid Jibrin, around 3:13pm.
Justifying
what they did, Olusegun, who is in his late 30s, said: “In view of all
the happenings in the PDP, I hereby declare myself as acting chairman of
the party.
“Both Sheriff and Makarfi should stay away from the party’s secretariat from this moment.”
However,
a source within the party, told the Daily Trust that as soon as he
returned, Sheriff, who was in Maiduguri, would go to the office.
A
statement issued by Inuwa Bwala, the special adviser on media to
Sheriff’, yesterday, alleged that the youth protest, which he described
as “an act of hooliganism and brigandage,” was organised by the
“illegal” caretaker committee headed by Makarfi.
Meanwhile,
yesterday, in the evening (5:27pm), some youth, chanting pro-Sheriff
slogan, broke into the secretariat building after destroying the gates.
The security operatives attached to the secretariat, who were present, watched helplessly.