Osun Speaker’s Chief of Staff Quits PDP
- Says Party Hijacked By ‘Bootlickers’
Barr. Faruq Abass, the Chief of Staff to the Speaker of the Osun State House of Assembly, Hon. Wale Egbedun, has left the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP).
Abass tendered his resignation on Friday in a document shared on his official X handle.
In a letter addressed to the PDP Chairman in his Ward, Ejigbo Local Government, Abass cited the hijack of the party by some ‘bootlickers,’ the failure of the ruling party to provide quality and visionary governance to the people of the state since 2022, and the ostracisation of party members who supported the governorship ambition of Prince Dotun Babayemi, among others.
The Speaker’s CoS also said that despite the substantial allocation to the Ejigbo local government, there has not been any meaningful development in the council area.
OSUN DEFENDER gathered that Abass is one of the loyalists of Babayemi, who has concluded plans to move to the All Progressives Congress (APC), alongside a former Secretary to the State Government, Alhaji Fatai Akinbade, as well as Accord Party candidate in the 2022 governorship election, Dr. Akin Ogunbiyi.
The letter reads, in part, “The party has been hijacked by those who believe in promoting mediocrity and bootlicking over competence and merit. Unfortunately, this has resulted in a decline in the quality of leadership in both the party and the government in Osun State.
“The PDP rode to power on the back of the strong desires of our people for quality and visionary leadership. However, the party has failed to deliver quality, serious and merit-driven governance that will fulfill the yearnings of the people of Osun State.
“The party has lost touch with the people of Osun State and has failed to resolve the crisis that arose from the last governorship primaries in 2022, where a majority of the party’s founding and leading members queued behind Omo Oba Dotun Babayem’s governorship ambition.
“Instead of promoting unity, the party’s leadership in Ejigbo Local Government and Osun State has deliberately excluded most of us who actively promoted Omo-Oba Dotun Babayemi’s
ambition from the decision-making process in the state.
“While the party’s leadership in Ejigbo Local Government and our Federal Constituency consulted us frequently from 2019 till the 2022 and 2023 election campaign seasons, they stopped consulting and listening to us after the party’s electoral victories.
“Notwithstanding the substantial increase in the monthly federal allocation to the State and Local Government, there has been no meaningful infrastructural or developmental project in Ejigbo Local Government.
“The state has been facing the issues of unequal distribution of projects and political appointments, indicating that certain Local Governments are being prioritised over others.
“Given my burning desire to attract quality development to Ejigbo Local Government and my immediate community, I have decided to leave the PDP to be able to pursue my community development goals elsewhere,” he wrote.
It was further learnt that the legal practitioner is not the only one moving to the opposition party. Other prominent members of the camp, Gafar Ifedolapo, Olufemi Fabunmi, among others, have also indicated interest to pitch their tent with the APC.
Sodiq Yusuf is a trained media practitioner and journalist with considerable years of experience in print, broadcast, and digital journalism. His interests cover a wide range of causes in politics, governance, sports, community development, and good governance.
