•Denies former ZLP members
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ilaje Local Government of Ondo State has said former members of the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) in the area, led by an ex-governorship aspirant, Banji Okunomo, are yet to fully get registered as members of the PDP.
It said the constitution of the PDP stipulated that all members of the party must register with the party at their wards, but that the former ZLP members only announced their defection in a hotel.
The ZLP structure in Ondo State collapsed into the PDP after former Governor Olusegun Mimiko returned to the PDP.
But the PDP in Ilaje Local Government in a communiqué after its meeting at the weekend, said actions and activities of Okunomo and other former ZLP members were unconstitutional.
In the communiqué signed by 10 PDP leaders in Ilaje, among who were Johnson Ajimison, Adeniran Oronla and Mandah Akinbulejo, the party announced the suspension of 13 members in the locality.
Among those suspended were nine executive members, including the Youth Leader, Omoseebi Sylvester, and Woman Leader, Ajimisan Omoleye, among others.
The communiqué said the 13 members were suspected for alleged political indiscipline, rascality and ostentatious display of insubordination.
It said the actions of the suspended members contravened Section 58(1)F items F, H, I and J of the party’s constitution.
The communiqué said: “As far as PDP Etikan ward is concerned, Okunomo and his cohorts from ZLP are not members of our party because they have not officially defected to the PDP at the ward level, as specified by the party’s constitution.
“The implication is that until they formally defect from ZLP and are duly registered as members of PDP Etikan ward, their actions and activities within the party are unconstitutional.”
Reacting, Okunomo said he was granted waiver when he rejoined the PDP, adding that the ward leaders could not determine his membership.
He said Johnson Ajimison was suspended as chairman of the PDP Etikan Ward, for not convening meeting for the past one year.
“I am a state leader of the party and a bona fide member of the PDP. We were granted waiver when we rejoined the party,” Okunomo said.
The Nation
