Segun Sowunmi, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), is confident in his ability to secure victory in a head-to-head contest with former Senate President Bukola Saraki for the coveted position of National Chairman of the PDP.
Sowunmi made this bold statement during a live appearance on Channels Television’s “Politics Today” program on Wednesday.
When questioned about his prospects against Saraki, who is also rumored to be a candidate for the PDP’s top leadership role, the former aspirant for Ogun State governorship unequivocally stated, “I’ll beat him. I’ll ask him what he did in 2014/2015, when they destabilized the party. I’ll beat him, I’m sure of that.”
Sowunmi further emphasized that if Saraki, hailing from Kwara State, were to emerge as the party chairman, it would signify another leader from the North Central geopolitical zone. He deemed this unfair to the South-West region.
Citing the historical roster of PDP chairmen, which featured six from the North Central region out of a total of fifteen, Sowunmi expressed his opposition to the notion that the North Central region should consistently claim the chairmanship.
“If North Central thinks that it is their inalienable right to be chairman all the time, then those of us in the South-West can tell them, ‘No, we don’t agree,’” he said.
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“Some of us have put in a lot more than you guys have put in, and we want the party chairman to be in the South-West, and if young people want me to be, then we’ll meet ourselves in the field.”
Some of us have put in a lot more than you guys have put in, and we want the party chairman to be in the South-West, and if young people want me to be, then we’ll meet ourselves in the field.”
Sowunmi’s stance prioritizes stability, highlighting the need for prudent decision-making in the face of the current challenges. He cautioned against a cycle of leadership changes solely for the purpose of replacing the incumbent.
“When you have the situation that we have on hand now, we must be very measured, we must be very careful, and we must not run into that consistent argument of thinking that our issue is removing the person in charge,” he said.
“We had the same conversation with Ali Modu Sherriff, then we ran into Makarfi, then we ran into Secondus, then we ran into Ayu. Now, we’re with Damagun. We cannot be a political party that keeps saying all the time that nobody is good enough to lead us.”
He also addressed the notion of his support by Atiku Abubakar, the party’s presidential candidate for the 2023 elections. Sowunmi acknowledged Atiku’s tendency to avoid disruptive actions and maintained, “Young people are just gyrating and my name is coming up.“