Makinde’s candidate, Arapaja is PDP South-west chairman

Former Deputy Governor of Oyo state, Ambassador Taofeek Arapaja backed by Governor Seyi Makinde has emerged as the new South-West Zonal Vice Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Arapaja, on Monday at a congress held in Osogbo , the Osun state capital polled 343 votes to defeat his rival , Dr Eddy Olafeso, who scored 330 votes.

Olafeso is of the camp of former Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose.

Fayose had earlier during the exercise reconciled with his main rival, Makinde, acknowledging that the Oyo State gaffer is the PDP leader in the southwest region.

The former governor of Ekiti state’s reaction comes after months of leadership tussle for the control of the party among the duo in the region.

Reacting to the zonal congress, Governor Makinde declared that the PDP is ready to wrestle power from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

He added that the internal wrangling that has rocked the zone has now come to an end.

According to him, “We will take it in the spirit of a family contest. We don’t want to defeat ourselves, we want to defeat the APC.

“So at the end of this exercise, I promise you there will be no victor, no vanquish. As your only governor in this zone, whoever emerges belongs to me and I will work with the team to reposition our party”, Makinde assured.