The crisis within the Peoples Democratic Party in Osun has taken a fresh turn as the National Working Committee and the state chapter issued two opposing instructions on the governorship primaries scheduled for Tuesday December 2.
Governor Ademola Adeleke remains the sole aspirant, yet the contest has been thrown into uncertainty after both camps released public statements on Monday confirming different positions on the status of the exercise.
The Turaki-led National Working Committee, through its National Organising Secretary Honourable Theophilus Dakas Shan, restated in Abuja that the primaries would go ahead as planned.
He urged members to attend the exercise, explaining that the party had already notified INEC in an earlier communication and completed congresses to elect ad hoc and national delegates on November 24 and 29.
The statement said the event would hold at Atlantis Multipurpose Hall, Ring Road, Osogbo from 10 in the morning. It added that a committee had been set up to supervise the process, with a warning that all cleared aspirants must conduct themselves in line with party rules.
According to the NWC, any form of indiscipline would attract serious consequences.
However, the Osun chapter countered the directive in a statement credited to its chairman, Sunday Bisi, and released in Osogbo.
The state chapter said the primaries could not proceed due to the internal leadership dispute affecting the party nationwide.
It explained that although Governor Adeleke met every requirement, including attending the screening in Abuja, the unresolved leadership issue and several pending court cases had stalled the entire process.
The Osun chapter referenced the court actions that halted the ward and local government congresses slated for November 24 and 29.
These congresses were meant to produce the delegates who would vote in the primaries. It stressed that the situation made it impossible to hold a valid primary election at this time.
Amid the development, there are growing rumours that Governor Adeleke may be considering an alternative party to secure a second term ticket. He has been associated with talks across different platforms, including Accord Party.
The PDP has been split between the Turaki faction and another led by Mohammed Abdulrahman, a known ally of the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike.
The two groups have been in open confrontation, with both sides suspending and expelling key figures as they fight for control.
The conflict escalated two weeks ago when supporters of both camps clashed at the PDP national secretariat in Abuja, forcing police officers to deploy tear gas. The secretariat has remained under police seal since the incident.
The legal battle over the party’s national convention scheduled for November 15 has also deepened the rift. While an Abuja Federal High Court granted orders stopping the convention, a court in Ibadan permitted the Turaki camp to proceed. Both matters are still awaiting final determination at the Court of Appeal.
