You Are Not A PDP Member If You Aren’t With Gbolarumi’ — Taiwo Jimoh

 

By Seyifunmi Odunuga 

​Following the recent Court of Appeal judgment, Hon. Taiwo Jimoh, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) candidate for Ibadan Southwest Constituency 1 in the Oyo State House of Assembly, has handed down an absolute verdict on the internal leadership tussle rocking the state chapter, declaring that anyone operating outside the leadership of Barrister Hazeem Gbolarumi is completely stripped of true party legitimacy.

                       Hon. Taiwo Jimoh 

​Hon. Jimoh dropped the political bombshell while appearing as a guest on the popular weekly political program 'Botiri', hosted by veteran broadcaster Tunji Ajibade on Dominion Radio 106.5 FM.

​According to the House of Assembly candidate, the appellate court's verdict has officially settled the leadership debate, legally validating the Gbolarumi-led faction as the only authentic, indivisible, and recognized structure of the PDP in Oyo State. Taking a hardline stance, he insisted that the ruling strips the mainstream camp loyal to Governor Seyi Makinde of any right to claim the party’s identity.

​"Following the Court of Appeal judgment, the truth has laid itself bare," Hon. Jimoh asserted on the live program. "This verdict proves that you cannot pocket a national party structure for personal whims. Let it be known clearly: PDP in Oyo State stands firmly as one indivisible family under the authentic leadership of Barrister Hazeem Gbolarumi.

 You are simply not a PDP member if you aren't with Gbolarumi."

​The Ibadan Southwest candidate maintained that the governor’s attempt to monopolize the state secretariat and run the party machinery like a private enterprise has backfired. He further dismissed the mainstream camp's rumored alignment with the Allied Peoples Movement (APM), describing it as a desperate, superficial gimmick born out of the realization that they are now holding onto an "empty shell."

​In a bold disclosure that is bound to shake the state's political landscape, Hon. Jimoh revealed that the legal victory has triggered massive panic within the government, forcing a quiet but major realignment behind the scenes.

​"I am saying this clearly and openly: a vast majority of the governor's current commissioners and local government chairmen are secretly standing with us. We hold regular meetings together. They are playing a front with the governor because the court has spoken, and no one wants to be left stranded on a sinking political ship when the campaigns fully kick off."

​With Hon. Jimoh’s latest declaration backed by the weight of a Court of Appeal judgment, observers note that the battle lines are permanently drawn, effectively branding any parallel activities by the mainstream camp as political impersonation.