Osun PDP defends expulsion of ex-guber aspirant, Babayemi
By Konyinsola Dawodu
The Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), Osun State chapter, has defended the expulsion of the former gubernatorial aspirant, Mr. Dotun Babayemi from the party.
Justifying the move by the party, it was noted that the spirited defence of Babayemi by the All Progressives Congress (APC) confirmed the reports of nocturnal romance between the former governorship aspirant and the APC before, during and after the state governorship elections.
According to a statement issued by the office of the Chairman of the State Caretaker Committee, Dr. Adekunle Akindele, the ward leadership complied with the party constitution by making such a decision.
Dr. Akindele, cautioning against anti-party activities by party members, said the “enforcement of disciplinary action will henceforth be a continuous process as our party must remain united, disciplined and responsible as we prepare to take over the governance of the state.”
The statement reads in part: “The detailed response from the APC querying the PDP for effecting disciplinary action against an erring member was so caustic that it indicated that the expulsion has disrupted APC’s evil plan which was to use the expelled member to destabilise the PDP and truncate the people’s mandate conferred on Senator Ademola Adeleke at the July 16th polls.
“What could warrant such an angry defence of Babayemi by a defeated political party with deeply fractured structure if not that a mole they have been working with all along has finally been expelled from the PDP!
“We at this point thank the APC’s chairman for providing the much needed back up for one of the reasons the party ward leadership sent Babayemi packing from the party for anti-party activities. We would therefore not join issue further with the APC as the PDP has no apologies for sanitising its fold and for fumigating its structure.
“We commend the ward leadership for taking the bull by the horn to get rid of rodent mole who has become a threat not just to cohesion in the party but to the great people of Osun state,” the statement noted.
On the expulsion and the processes leading to it, the party chairman noted that “the speech and associated documents provided by the ward leadership have been reviewed and they were found to be in compliance with rules and relevant sections of the party constitution.
“The party received petition against Babayemi and on July 12th, conveyed an emergency meeting following which a disciplinary committee duly served a letter of invitation to the erring member to respond between 13th and 19th of July. The committee, thereafter, came up with its findings.
“The committee found Babayemi as having engaged in serious anti-party activities to the detriment of the party, and has breached the provisions of sections 58(1) (a),( b), (d), (e) (g), (h) (i), (k) and (l) of the constitution of PDP. To avoid further damning damages, the disciplinary committee had recommended that Babayemi be removed as a member of the PDP.
“The Ward Executive Committee of the party at its meeting on July 20, 2022, received the report of the disciplinary committee, and after careful and extensive deliberations, ratified the report of the disciplinary committee.
“The party at the state level fully supports observance of due process in the handling of the disciplinary matter and therefore endorses the expulsion of Babayemi from the party,” the statement further stated.
