by ‘Jola Sotubo

In an attempt to stem the current crisis which has torn apart the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP), party stalwart and former President Olusegun Obasanjo is set to intensify efforts to engender peace.

According to reports, Chief Obasanjo has embarked on peace efforts aimed at reconciling the National Chairman of the PDP, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, and the newly reinstated National Secretary and former Governor of Osun State, Olagunsoye Oyinlola.

The reinstatement of Oyinlola by a recent Court of Appeal judgment has led to confusion within the party as the former governor is a member of the newly created faction of the PDP led by Abubakar Kawu Baraje.

Leadership Newspaper reports:

Although the Ogun State chapter of the party, which suit led to the sack of Oyinlola, has approached the Supreme Court challenging the ruling, a political associate of Obasanjo told LEADERSHIP Sunday that the former leader has begun a consultation on the need to capitalise on the judgement to restore sanity in the party.

 “I can tell you that Baba (Obasanjo) is not happy with the crisis rocking our party. He has been making efforts behind the scenes to ensure that normalcy is restored. He has been meeting with the aggrieved leaders of the party including the governors; he has also met with President Goodluck Jonathan. But with this new development, Baba would bring Oyinlola and Segun Oni (former governor of Ekiti and former national deputy chairman) back to the party.

 “The factionalisation of our party has weakened us and next year is the electioneering; those who are threatening to defect to the opposition are not having the support of Baba Obasanjo. He has been telling them time without number, and now that one of their prayers has been answered, Baba has begun a process of reconciling the leadership of Oyinlola who is not happy with his alleged flirting with Jaja Wawa (former deputy chairman) and it is our prayer the effort is fruitful.”

When asked if Oyinlola was interested in returning to the mainstream PDP, our source, a former national officer of the PDP, said “he is keenly interested” and that “Oyinlola goes with the aggrieved governors because he did not know that he could be victorious in the court, and now that he has been vindicated, nothing stops him from returning to the party. And this would go a long way in bringing in the long-awaited reconciliation.”

 In a swift reaction to the judgment, Oyinlola on Thursday hailed it, describing it as a vindication of his position.