Date Published: 09/13/11

Ex-SSG, Lawmaker exchange blows at PDP peace meeting

The peace moves in the Ondo State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party suffered a setback on Tuesday as two of its leaders exchanged blows at a stakeholders’ meeting in Akure.

The two leaders were a former Secretary to the State Government, Mr. Isaac Kekemeke, and the only PDP member in the state House of Assembly, Mr. Akpoebi Lubi.

Trouble started when the National Legal Adviser of the party and convener of the meeting, Chief Olusola Oke, asked Kekemeke to address the gathering.

Lubi, who had been complaining since the leaders of the party began the series of reconciliation meetings, that the peace moves were one sided, rushed to the podium just as Kekemeke was about to make his speech.

The lawmaker insisted that Kekemeke had no right to address the gathering because he allegedly worked against his interest during the April elections in the state.

Irked by Lubi’s action, Kekemeke landed heavy punches on him.The lawmaker responded with a slap on Kekemeke and a serious fight ensued between the two.

It took the intervention of policemen, soldiers, officials of the State Security Services and civil defence corps before the Ijaw chiefs of the PDP stopped the fight.

The development stalled the meeting which had in attendance a former governor of the state, Dr. Olusegun Agagu; Ambassador Olu Agbi, Otunba Oyewole Fasawe, Mr. Kingsley Kuku, Mr. Adetokunbo Kayode (SAN) and Dr. Omotayo Dairo, for about one hour.

When the meeting reconvened, leaders like Agagu, Oke, Fasawe, Agbi, Dairo and Mrs. Oladunni Odu, among others urged members to shun any form of bitterness and support the reconciliation efforts in order to move the PDP forward.

The forum also agreed to dissolve the state executive of the party headed by Dairo and the interim caretaker committee led by Agbi.

A caretaker committee is to be set up to lead the party until when its congress.

Lubi had consistently been drawing the attention of the PDP leadership to the reconciliation process in the last three weeks.

Punch..