The Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Ogun State, Sikirullai Ogundele, bares his mind with Assistant Editor EMMANUEL BADEJO on the disagreement among political gladiators in the state, the party’s proposed congress later this month, its current membership drive among other things.

You recently began a membership drive for your party ahead of the state congress. How far have you gone with the exercise?

Yes, the exercise is going well. I can tell you that with this, we’ve successfully got some of the disenfranchised members registered into the fold. These members have done the necessary things to validate their membership in the party.

How many new members have you been able to bring to the party?

I cannot give you a precise number, but we’ve registered millions of members. We have succeeded in attracting some disgruntled members of other political parties. These include former members of the All Progressives Congress (APC), the Peoples’ Party of Nigeria (PPN), the African Democratic Party (ADC) and others who have joined our party. These people saw the need to join us, and I want to tell you that with all sense of responsibility, we’re solidly together. It is also interesting to note that this exercise has attracted some of the PDP members who broke out due to wrong management and are now coming back. We are currently wooing some of the gladiators, too. Why we’ve gone this far is because we have been able to convince some of these people to join us. With the success level, to God be the glory, by 2027 we’re taking over the mantle of the state from the ruling party.

There are reports that some of your key stakeholders, such as Ladi Adebutu and Segun Sowunmi are not on the same page with you. Will that not thwart your goal and claim?

While Mr Sowunmi has seen the truth and the light and has staged a comeback to the mainstream, Mr Adebutu would also align at the end of the day. One thing you must know is that there’s no permanent enemy and there’s no permanent friend in politics. We would resolve and align.

What makes you optimistic that you’re going to form a common front this time around?

When I was elected as the party chairman, I promised to run an all-inclusive administration. That means I pledged to bring all members on board and that is what I’m doing. Our members are now allowed to realise their ambition in the party. This is different from what was obtainable in the party when a few pocketed it. We are successfully getting the PDP to be independent and be seen as a political party, and not to be seen as a personal business of one person.

Many political parties have faced similar challenges of individuals trying to illegally take advantage of their fold. So, what are you doing to correct this anomaly in Ogun PDP?

I’m happy you said illegally, and we cannot continue to do things that way. When you notice something illegal, what you need to do is to wake up and correct that illegality; that’s what we’ve achieved in Ogun State PDP. We’re now in the majority. That’s why we have been able to win members of the ADC, the APC, the APM, and the APP. We’re even talking to some of the APC members and I believe they would respond positively. This is because the APC is not a political party where true democracy is practised. With the level of my exposure and pedigree, I won’t be involved in any illegality.

Since Governor Gbenga Daniel left office, the PDP has been struggling to return to Oke Mosan House. What are the chances of the party under your leadership springing a surprise in 2027?

Since 2007, we have been losing elections to the Ogun House. After our poor performance last year, we went to a drawing board to check the reasons why we lost. During the exercise, we successfully identified some of the reasons why we’ve been losing at the polls. So, all mercenaries are now in place to get it back.
The PDP won the first election in 2003, with almost 800,000 votes. In 2007, Otunba Gbenga Daniel (OGD) won with almost 700,000 votes. But when all these shenanigans crept into the party, we tried to manage our membership with the leaders, but those efforts failed. Then, we saw fictionalization within the party. Eventually, some party leaders/members, who felt cheated, broke into different political parties. That was why Ibikunle Amosun, the immediate past governor, won during his first term with just 300,000 votes. The votes the PDP would have had were broken into different political parties.
When you consider election results in 2015, 2019 and 2023, you’ll observe that if we had been together, the ruling party wouldn’t have won. That is why we decided to begin closing the ranks within us. I am happy to inform you that many of the members we have talked to have agreed to stop the NGO political parties. By this, I mean running or contesting under political parties that cannot win elections. At the moment, these groups of people have been convinced and are now on board to join the mainstream. That is why we are confident that come 2027, we will be taking back the state coupled with the fact that APC have not done well though they’re trying their best. It has been the case of Nigeria and Nigerians jumping from the frying pan to the fire. So, the APC is doing more ills than PDP in terms of their poor performance and the hardship that are subjecting Nigerians to. With their government, they’re doing so many campaigns for the PDP. So, no fear, or doubt come 2027, Nigerians will vote right.

There are indications that Sowunmi is not in your camp yet…

I said Sowunmi is back to the mainstream, which is no other place than the Sikirillah-led administration of the PDP in Ogun State.

What about Adebutu? There are reports that he has been castigating your position about the party’s chances…

I don’t think so. I have spoken fact, not fiction. When the presidential candidate of the PDP came to Ogun State two times to beg him to allow some party members to run for him to be able to get 25 per cent as required by the electoral law, our governorship candidate blatantly refused. It’s on record that delegates from the national headquarters of the party came to Ogun State to appeal to him to allow some of these juggernauts in Ogun State to run under the platform of the party. Again, our governorship candidate refused. If he had agreed, we would have had five House of Reps members today.

How prepared are you for the congress?

We’re very prepared; politicians are always well prepared.

Are you saying there would be no repeat of parallel congresses as witnessed in the past?

I don’t think so.

What makes you so sure?

Let me tell you, the national organ in Abuja owns the party. I’m just a representative of the party in Ogun State. So, they know who will run the affairs of that election, they know who will direct and the people that will conduct the congress. So, let’s just leave that one to people from Abuja.

How has the party been fairing outside power since the exit of Otunba Gbenga Daniel?

Well, we’re coordinating our members and they’re staunchly on the ground. We believe and are working towards returning to the seat of power in the state and we are so confident that by 2027, the people will vote us in. This is one of the reasons we are working towards resolving our intra-party skirmishes. I’m confirming to you that even Adebutu will be part of restructuring the party that’s going on now.