The recent news of the expulsion of Omooba Dotun Babayemi (ODB) from the PDP by the party executive of PDP ward 2, Ayedaade LG executives is indeed a welcome development and one decision that has been expected to be taken much earlier.
For those who have not been following, ODB was among the 6 aspirants that purchased the PDP gubernatorial form ahead of the primary, he went through the screening at the PDP National Headquarters alongside others and got the clearance of the party to contest the primary scheduled for the 8th of March, 2022 at the Osogbo township Stadium.
In an interesting turn of events and rather surprising an act by a lawyer, ODB failed to appear at the approved venue for the primary by the NWC with representatives of INEC in attendance as required by the new electoral act.
He however decided to proceed to another venue with the support and backing of some fellow party elders doing his bidding and organize a sit-down with themselves which they later called “a factional primary”.
This was perhaps the greatest mistake any aspirant can make as a foundation for his political ambition and it’s laughable that a lawyer can be caught in such an act that contradicts the law and also run against the principle of internal democracy within the party.
It can be established from the above that; ODB did not contest in the primary election of the Osun PDP, a key criteria in determining the validity of nomination for the main election. This has been established by the rulings of the Federal High court and indeed the Appellate Court on the subject matter.
In a move to ensure peace and cohesion within the party, the leadership of the party at the National and State level has at several times intervene for ODB to reason along the legality of his case not for fear of losing but for the sake of maintaining peace and order within the party.
It is however laughable that rather than discussing the substance of the subject matter, ODB at every opportunity has decided to use his purported case as negotiation tool to armchair the party into unilaterally ceed positions that have been democratically contested and winner emerged to some of his backers who have lost out in subsequent primary election into the legislative arm both at the state and federal level.
I just finished reading his reaction to the news of his expulsion and the only takeaway fact from it is that, the decision of the party not to commit electoral offense by HIJACKING TICKET from valid winners of primary election thereby avoiding future litigation from such people is the SOLE reason Omooba Dotun decided to burn down the house which once shield him from the wilderness.
It is shocking that he made bold to confirm that he demanded for 1 senatorial ticket, 4 HOR tickets and 10 HOA tickets when the crux of the current matter is the validity of the Governorship primary election thereby confirming the insinuation that he is being used by people to cause legal confusion within the party at a time we are warming up to take over the reign of governance in the state.
The substance of his litigation is indeed a pre-election matter and assuming without conceding to the fact that he has a valid case, his refusal to participate in the NWC backed primary has made him impossible to be a direct beneficiary of any rulings/judgement. One need to ask who is OMooba Dotun Babayemi trying to front for?
Reading the statement of his expulsion, it was alleged that ODB has set up parallel party organ at the ward level across the LG which raises serious concern as to his true intention of causing division within the in the party and his refusal to respond to the invitation to respond to the allegations shows that he’s not interested in peace and has no regard for constitutional authority.
This is why the decision of the ward 2, Ayedaade LG’s executives decision to expel him on the basis of anti party is a deserving one and a step in the right direction.
Lastly, I can assure the good people of Osun state and PDP faithfuls that on the basis of the aforementioned, no need to panic as the governor elect emerged from a validly contested primary organized by the NWC of the PDP and duly supervised by INEC as required by the electoral law and any litigation to that effect is at best an exercise of one’s human right which must be respected but one whose outcome cannot jeopardize our collective victory.
Imole Osun is here and will be here forever.
Olalekan S. Badmus (Phoenix) writes from Osogbo, Osun state.
