The Chairman, Peoples Democratic Party, Lagos State chapter, Capt. Tunji Shelle (retd.), has said he will not enter his office at the state secretariat of the party till the end of his tenure in 2016.
He said his office had been “polluted”, alleging that ‘evil men’ had been to the place.
Shelle, in an interview with our correspondent on Friday, said though he still occupied the office of the chairman of the party in the state, he would rather use other offices in the secretariat and not his personal office.
He said, “I have taken over the secretariat. I am in charge till March next year and nothing will change that. What I have decided to do is not to enter the office, which they have already polluted. That place needs sanctification; it needs cleansing because evil people have stepped into that office. There are other offices in the secretariat that I can use.
“I have opened up the place but I won’t step inside. Their ghosts will continue to haunt them.”
Shelle, who stated that he remained the authentic chairman of the opposition party in Lagos, alleged that what the faction planned to do was to “hijack power so that somebody would use them to pick the ticket when next there is primary for the governorship election.”
Thirty four members of the State Working Committee of the party had on May 11, 2015, sacked Shelle as the state chairman. He was replaced with Kamaldeen Olorunoje.
The 34 members of the committee had accused Shelle of mismanaging election campaign funds and manipulating the party’s primaries in 2014, which led to the defeat of the PDP at the polls.
Olorunoje had, on May 14, 2015, challenged armed policemen and officials of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, who had locked the gate of the party secretariat, saying, “I am now in charge.”
However, the national leadership of the PDP had affirmed Shelle as the Lagos chairman of the party.
The National Working Committee of the party, in a statement by its National Legal Adviser, Mr. Victor Kwon, on August 27, said Shelle remained the chairman, dismissing his removal as illegal.
The NWC had stated that Shelle, being a member of the National Executive Committee, could not be suspended by a state organ of the party.
Olorunoje, however, insisted that Shelle remained suspended and vowed not to vacate his position. He said the national leadership of the PDP dismissed Shelle’s “impeachment” as illegal but never said anything about his “suspension.”
Speaking to our correspondent, Shelle, however, said, “I don’t know why people don’t respect the institution that gives them the opportunity to serve. I have taken over my office.
“They (faction) gained access to the office with the help of somebody outside the party. Otherwise, they have no cause to have broken into our office and remain there.
“If somebody comes into the party to destroy it for selfish interests or because they are being used by an individual, whose stock in trade is to come and destroy the party, they won’t have their way. I have a few months to the end of my tenure. I will continue to do what the party expects me to do. I will not look back or be distracted or be intimidated.”
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