Iyabo attends PDP crisis parley, Daniel absent

The Peoples Democratic Party on Friday intervened in the feud between the Ogun State Governor, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, and the daughter of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Senator Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello.
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Otunba Gbenga Daniel and Senator Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello

A meeting in Ibadan, which was allegedly called at the behest of the Ogun State PDP, took place at the Premier Hotel, Ibadan, and was attended by the leaders of the party in the zone, led by the Zonal Chairman, Alhaji Tajudeen Oladipo. The four-hour meeting, which was held behind closed doors, started around 3.30p.m. and lasted till 7.30p.m.

Daniel was absent from the meeting while the senator, who arrived at the venue of the meeting around 3.02p.m., wore a long face. She failed to exchange pleasantries with the few party members and supporters who had waited at the lobby since 2p.m.

She had made straight for the meeting venue on her arrival, where she was told that the zonal chairman was waiting for her in a room in the hotel, which prompted her to make a detour. Briefing journalists on the objective of the meeting, Oladipo said it was a special one called to look into some grievances as expressed in a letter addressed to him by the Ogun State chapter of the PDP. He said the November 18, 2008 centred on the festering altercation between Daniel and Obasanjo-Bello.

He said, “We will resolve the misunderstanding amicably. Politics can be regarded as the resolution of crisis. It is a normal phenomenon in politics to have crisis and it is normal to find a way of resolving it. Last weekend’s misunderstanding between Governor Daniel and Obasanjo-Bello is normal in politics; it is not a new thing. The matter has not degenerated to a crisis. Don’t be surprised that as we settle this matter, another issue will still come up, and so on like that.”

In an interview with journalists at the end of the meeting, Obasanjo-Bello said that she had accepted the intervention of the party leaders and had resolved to cooperate with them in finding a lasting solution to the crisis. She said, “All the issues discussed with us are well taken. Steps are being taken by the PDP leaders to settle the matter. They have talked to us and my supporters and I have agreed with their intervention.”

Asked when she would make peace with Daniel following the truce, she said it would depend on the next move by the mediators. Addressing her anxious supporters at the end of the meeting, the senator appealed to them to toe the path of peace.

Saturday Punch learnt that Daniel, who was absent from the meeting, was at Sagamu for a reception in honour of the Commissioner for Environment, Dr. Olukoya Adeleke-Adedoyin.

The chairman of the PDP in Ogun State, Mr. Joju Fadairo, said on the telephone that he was not aware of the meeting. He also denied receiving any communication about it, adding that if it was a party affair, he would have been informed.