The crisis rocking the Lagos State chapter of the Africa Democratic Congress (ADC) appears to be over, as major stakeholders and leaders of the party across the state Thursday affirmed Tunde Daramola as the state chairman and leader in the state.
The ADC has been rocked by leadership crisis just before the 2019 general election when the Tunde Daramola-led state executive was unceremoniously sacked by the national chairman of the party, Okey Nwosu for undisclosed reasons.
Daramola had challenged the party’s decision in court, while seeking to be cleared of any wrong doing.
He also said the national chairman of the party lacked the powers to unilaterally sack the Lagos Sate executive headed by him.
The party then appointed Kayode Jacob to act as the national chairman for three months.
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However, in a meeting by leaders and local government chairmen of the party held Thursday at Daramola’s residence in Magodo, the party leaders lamented the state of the party across the state, noting that the tenure of the caretaker committee headed by Jacob had expired in the last one year and that he was no more the party chairman in Lagos State.
The leaders lamented that the party had been without any leader to direct its affairs in the last one year, while unanimously adopting Tunde Daramola as its state chairman and leader when cleared by the national leadership.
The leaders, however, urged the national leadership to withdraw the sack letter issued to Daramola and recognise him as the party’s state chairman.
Responding, Daramola said he was ready to serve the party in any capacity, but would only do so if the national leadership of the party withdraw the allegations against him and the state executive headed by him or there was a judgment on the matter by the court.
Meanwhile, to avoid any vacuum, the leaders adopted the party’s former Publicity Secretary, Ogidi, to serve as its acting state chairman.
In an interview with journalists after the meeting, the head of all the party’s chairmen in the twenty local government areas in the state, Segun Adeiye said the party was ready to forge ahead which informed its decision to choose Daramola as its leader, while stressing that the tenure of the former acting chairman Kayode Jacob had expired.
According to him, “The ADC met today and we resolved that the caretaker committee headed by Kayode Jacob is here dissolved because the tenure had expired almost a year ago. We are appealing to everybody not to have anything to do with that technical committee. And we are also appealing to the national chairman to please write a letter of withdrawal to the national executive in Lagos State.
“And since we are not ready to create any vacuum we have resolved that Muhammed Ogidi should be the acting state chairman. And all correspondence pertaining to the party affairs in Lagos State should be directed to him. Nobody should have anything to do with Kayode Jacob,” he said.
The acting chairman, Muhammad Ogidi promised to strive and reposition the party in the state, lamenting that the party had remained in the doldrums in the last few years.
“The national chairman has said all efforts have been made to bring back the party; we are not tired; we placed second after the APC in the last elections.
“For almost three years; we are nowhere to be found; nobody is helping us. ADC must come back. Kayode is out; Tunde Daramola has assured us that he would bring the party back on its feet,” Ogidi said.
