•••It’s Adeleke supporters that disrupt our meeting, beat us – Odeyemi
•••Majority of party members want Adagunodo out – Adeleke group
Members of the People’s Democratic Party in Osun State on Monday stormed the party Secretariat to demand the removal of the state party Chairman, Hon. Soji Adagunodo and other members of the state working committee.
The protesters, who stormed the party secretariat in Osogbo around 10am, were armed with placards with different inscriptions.
Among the inscriptions are “Adagunodo must go”, “Bola Ajao must go”, “No more confidence in the present state working committee” among others protest statements.
In a chat with InsightMedia, the Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the party, Diran Odeyemi said the protesters were supporters of 2018 governorship candidate of the party and former senator representing Osun West, Ademola Adeleke, who came to disrupt a stakeholders meeting slated for 11am.
He said the protesters beat him, the party Chairman and two supporters of Mr Akin Ogunbiyi, namely Akin Adeyi and Eddy Olowookere.
Odeyemi said, “A Stakeholders meeting scheduled for 11am this morning was disrupted by supporters of the Adeleke group who insisted that the Chairman, Hon Soji Adagunodo must go. I, the Chairman, Mr Adeyi and Olowookere were mercilessly beaten by thugs with charms, stones and stick at the party Secretariat but was eventually rescued by the combination of police, SSS and plain cloth police officers. This was what happened.
When asked if any arrest was made, Odeyemi said “no arrest was made, the whole scenario is under review and we are examining the roles played by some notable key members who were actually involved and some who physically supervised the harassment, humiliation and physical beating.”
An eyewitness, who was at the party secretariat when the drama unfolded corroborated the claim of Odeyemi that some party chieftains were beaten by the protesters.
Responding to the allegations, a high ranking member of Adeleke camp, Alh Mutiu Olatunji said the protesters were not Adeleke supporters.
He said the party members who were denied entry into the meeting venue engaged in scuffle with the conventional security personnel and it led to the free fight.
He said, “the story they are painting is false. What happened was the some aggrieved party members who were locked outside the meeting venue decided to protest and they later overpowered the security personnel deployed to the entrance. In a situation like that, you can’t know who and who did what and what. It’s never the supporters of Adeleke.”
When asked if the protesters seen with placards were part of the meeting for the day, Olatunji said, “that’s part of politics. If leaders are meeting, the aggrieved party members or happy ones are allowed to come to the venue to express their feelings and that’s what PDP members did on Monday. The protesters are predominantly party members.”
Responding to whether Adeleke group is after the removal of Soji Adagunodo, the party Chieftain said, no particular group is after the removal of the chairman, stating that it’s the wish of the majority of the party members.
“Majority of the people are of the opinion that his (Adagunodo’s) exit is the solution to the obvious crack in the party. No one wants him out for just fun of it. We need a united house” Olatunji concluded.
Efforts to speak with Mr Akin Adeyi, who’s believed to be a loyalist of Ogunbiyi proved fruitless as he did not pick his calls till Tuesday morning. 
