Prince Dotun Babayemi, one of the gubernatorial aspirants in Osun in the build up to the last governorship election, has been expelled from the State Chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
He was accused of anti-party activities.
Babayemi, according to the press statement was expelled from the party by his ward executives in Otun Balogun Ward 2, Ayedaade Local Government Area of Osun State.
The party made this known at a press conference addressed on Friday.
It stated that the expulsion followed the commendation of the party’s disciplinary committee.
The party revealed that despite the fact that he had lost his court cases at the Federal High Court and the Appeal Court , he has again instituted legal action against the party at the Supreme Court a decision they considered too risky and dangerous for the party in the state.
“Recall also that the Osun State PDP Governorship primaries were held on March 8th, 2022 at Osogbo Township Stadium under the supervision of the Deputy Governor of Bayelsa State, as directed by the National Working Committee of PDP, statutorily monitored by INEC from Abuja and Osun State offices. Whereas Senator Ademola Adeleke duly and physically attended the primaries, Prince Babayemi chose not to attend but organized parallel primaries elsewhere at the WOCDIF Events Centre, Osogbo, unknown to, and without the authority of the National Working Committee of the PDP, the statement read
“Since then, Prince Babayemi had engaged in several legal actions against the party and a series of other anti-party activities. While he had lost his court cases at the Federal High Court and the court of appeal, he has again instituted legal action against the party at the Supreme Court.
“Despite the interventions of the National Working Committee of PDP, party stakeholders, and elder statesmen to persuade Prince Babayemi to withdraw all court cases filed against the party, he has refused to yield to words of reasoning and is hellbent on pursuing legal actions against the party with the sole aim of truncating the wishes of good people of Osun State in the mandate given to Senator Ademola Adeleke.
“Following receipt of petitions bothering on the state of affairs of our party and alleging in particular serious anti-party roles being played by Prince Dotun Babayemi and his supporters and clandestine moves that could jeopardize the chances of victory of our party in the 2022 Osun gubernatorial election, the Executive Committee of Peoples Democratic Party of Otun Balogun Ward 2, Ayedaade Local Government Gbongan met in an emergency meeting on the 12th of July, 2022 and after extensive deliberations resolved and set up a seven-man disciplinary committee to look into the petitions and come up with appropriate recommendations.
“In other to avail him the opportunity to respond to the allegations, the disciplinary committee at its inaugural sitting on the 13th of July, 2022 issued a letter of invitation to appear before the committee within seven days to Prince Babayemi, delivered to his residence, Babayemi’s house, Obada Area, Gbongan, Osun State, duly acknowledged and received by the private guard at his house. Prince Babayemi however failed to appear before the committee to respond to the allegations at the expiration of the seven days which lapsed on the 19th of July, 2022.
“The committee on the 19th of July, 2022 thereafter looked into the petitions and came out with the following findings.
“That the state of affairs of our party in Gbongan and in Osun State generally is such that had its root in the promotion of factions within the party by Prince Dotun Babayemi and his allies, and further fuelled by his group’s setting up of parallel executives in all the wards, an action which has impacted negatively in the fortune of our party and caused sharp division among the party members.
“That Prince Dotun Babayemi’s serial legal litigations and court actions against the party was a deliberate ploy to rock the boat and destabilize the party, an anti-party activity which had caused disaffection among party members, and deterred PDP sympathizers from identifying with the party in Gbongan. The committee viewed Prince Babayemi’s continuous filing of several court cases against the party as an affront and his refusal to withdraw same despite the intervention of the party’s leadership both at the State and National levels as complete disobedience to the party’s lawful directives.
“That rather than serving as an influencer and a rallying point to all members of the party at ward meetings, Prince Dotun Babayemi had not been attending the ward meetings since October 2021 till date. His absence at ward meetings over a long period of time spanning October 2021 till date was perceived as a wrong signal to the members of the party of his indisposition to the unity of the party. The committee observed that Prince Babayemi’s persistent absence at ward meetings was a self-orchestrated antic on purpose.
“That supporters and allies of Prince Babayemi made clandestine moves and held secret meetings with the APC with the aim of forging an alliance to generally work against our party in the last July 16th, 2022 gubernatorial election and vote for the APC across all the wards in Gbongan, an action considered as gross anti-party activities aimed at sabotaging the success and victory of PDP.
“That majority of voters in Gbongan felt disenchanted with the unwillingness of Prince Dotun Babayemi to forge a united and cohesive alliance with the party, an action which portrayed our party as too disunited, thus weakening our support base, and losing the confidence and sympathy of the majority of prospective voters.”
The PDP continued: “The disciplinary committee seriously frowned at the actions of Prince Babayemi and considered his adamant postures and anti-party activities as embarrassing to the party, bringing to disrepute the name of our town and a discrete plan to sabotage and subvert the will of the people of Osun State.
“The committee found Prince Dotun Babayemi as having engaged in serious anti-party activities to the detriment of the party and has breached the provisions of sections 58(1) (a), (b), (d), (e) (g), (h) (i), (k) and (l) of the constitution of PDP. To avoid further damning damages that may be too costly to bear on the party going forward, the disciplinary committee had recommended that Prince Dotun Babayemi be removed as a member of the Peoples Democratic Party.
“The Ward Executive Committee of the party at its meeting of 20th July 2022 received the report of the disciplinary committee, and after careful and extensive deliberations ratified the report of the disciplinary committee. The Ward Executive Committee of the Party in the exercise of the powers conferred on it by sections 57(2) and 59 (1) (g) of the constitution of PDP hereby removes and expel Prince Dotun Babayemi from the Peoples Democratic Party. He, therefore, ceases to be a member of the PDP henceforth.”
Prince Babayemi had in 2018 left APC for was originally and formerly of the APC the Action Democratic Party (ADP), where he was the party’s senatorial candidate for Osun West Senatorial District in the 2019 National Assembly elections.
Babayemi left ADP and joined the PDP in 2019.