Attempt by the leadership of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to unite the Osun State chapter of the party and its South West Zone ahead of the August governorship election in Osun State as well as the forthcoming 2015 general elections may have hit the rocks.

Sources close to the National Secretariat of the party told CEOAFRICA  that the recent attempt to woo the estranged suspended National Secretary of the party, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, back into the party as a major ploy in achieving the set objectives, and also to prevent him from working for the opposition All Progressive Congress (APC), is set to fail.

According to sources, the current efforts to win back Oyinlola into the mainstream of the party is heading for failure due to the refusal by some elements within the party to allow the battle for supremacy between the loyalists of former President Olusegun Obasanjo and the current president, Goodluck Jonathan, end in the larger interest of the party.

Oyinlola, a known loyalist of Obasanjo, last year lost his seat following a court judgment in a suit instigated by a Jonathan loyalist and sworn enemy of Obasanjo, Buruji Kashamu.

He, however, got reprieve from the Court of Appeal, which ordered him back to office, but the party in refusing to reinstate him, took the matter to the Supreme Court and continued to shut him out of office.

The process of selecting the PDP governorship candidate for the forthcoming election threw up another crisis in Osun State chapter of PDP with former Osun State Governor and an astute politician, Isiaka Adeleke, dumping PDP for APC, in protest over alleged shoddy treated meted out to him during the party’s primary election.

Wanting to capitalise further on the cracks in the Osun PDP and South West in general, national leaders of APC openly courted Oyinlola, asking him to dump the PDP and pitch his tent with the opposition party.

At a hurriedly put together meeting to salvage the situation, the PDP leadership and the presidency met with Oyinlola last week to iron things out and urge him to stay with the party.

Within the same period, leaders and stakeholders within the PDP in the South West met to resolve their difference, most especially, the crisis created by ouster of Oyinlola and his replacement with Prof Wale Oladipo as the National Secretary of the party.

The meeting between the presidency and Oyinlola did not achieve its objective as both camp reportedly stuck to their guns.

While Oyinlola was asked at the meeting to support the candidate of the party, Senator Iyiola Omisore, for the governorship election in Osun State and also to help in the campaign of the party, Oyinlola was quoted to have stoically insisted that he will only listen to the plea of the PDP leaders when he’s reinstated as the National Secretary of the PDP as ordered by the Court of Appeal, while the party should also withdraw its appeal at the Supreme Court against the Appeal Court judgment which reinstated him to office.

The President was said to have said that the issue would be looked into, but did not make any commitment on whether the PDP would be asked to withdraw its appeal on the issue, which is pending at the Supreme Court.

The issue was further complicated when at a meeting held by southwest leadership caucus last Monday night, called by one time Deputy National Chairman of PDP (South West), Olabode George, it was agreed that in the spirit of genuine reconciliation, support should be given to Professor Wale Oladipo to continue in office as PDP National Secretary.

In the light of this, it was agreed that Oladipo would be ratified as the National Secretary of PDP at the proposed National Convention of the party, since opposition against him from his zone has finally been doused.

In view of the open opposition shown against his resolve to return to office by both the presidency and the party stakeholders, Oyinlola’s supporters were said to have met and took a decision not to take any move for reconciliation from the side of the party or the presidency, serious anymore.

According to a source, the issue of the imbroglio goes beyond the aspiration of Oyinlola or Prof Oladipo, but that of ego of their godfathers.

Obasanjo, it was said, was angry over the support tacitly given to Jonathan and Buruji by the South West stakeholders in adopting Prof Oladipo for the office of the secretary, while Oyinlola is still battling the party at the Supreme Court.

Even so, one of Oyinlola’s staunch supporters told CEOAFRICA that the group is aware that the party stalwarts are actually playing politics with the supposed peace move made towards Oyinlola, and that all the presidency and the party wanted was to make use of Oyinlola in the efforts at winning the Osun election and later dump him.

Asked if Oyinlola will follow the footstep of Adeleke by moving over to PDP, the source reply in the negative, saying the most important issue at hand for the Okuku-born Prince was the resolution of the matter before the Supreme Court, which he hoped will be in his favour, and return to office as the National Secretary of PDP.

A highly placed member of the party who spoke to this newspaper in confidence, expressed reservations over the imbroglio warning that the party might suffer greatly for it, especially in the South West, if it eventually approached the 2015 general election with a divided house, most especially, if the current disdain shown towards Obasanjo is not reversed and truce brokered as quick as possible.

CEOAFRICA recalled that this is the third time attempts at amicably resolving the issue with Oyinlola since Adamu Muazu came in board as PDP National Chairman, has failed.

Muazu since coming on board as the National Chairman of PDP on January 20 after approval by the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) that he should replace Bamanga Tukur, who resigned from the office, had met Oyinlola twice between January and April with a view to resolving the crisis caused by his ouster as the National Secretary of the party, but has not succeeded in convincing the former Osun State governor to forgo his mandate as PDP National Secretary.

Before attending the last Tuesday meeting with the President, his Vice and the National Chairman held at the Presidential Villa,  Oyinlola was reported to have had a meeting with former President Olusegun Obasanjo in Abeokuta last Sunday where some critical decisions were taken on certain issues concerning the party.