By Sola Shittu
Reporter, Ibadan

Last Wednesday, the camp led by Lamidi Adedibu broke into the building for the inauguration of its executives, chaired by Hafiz Tijani.

A member of the party, Adewale Atanda, alias Alase, sought the order to restrain the Adedibu faction from occupying the secretariat because he has the right to the office.

Atanda, Chairman of the Oyo State Housing Corporation, paid N1 million as rent for the place on behalf of Ladoja in 2002.

Adedibu’s supporters occupied it last week, having driven away the loyalists of Ladoja after the inauguration of their own faction, led by Jacob Adetoro.

The court restrained Tijani and 26 others, including Adedibu, from further use of the secretariat.

Police Commissioner and all executive members of the Adedibu faction are joined in the suit.

Justice A. Adesina ruled: “Upon the reading of the motion and the affidavit of Adewale … and after hearing O.Ajayi who moved the motion … although it is not the practice of the court to make an order, it will do so when it is imperative and inescapable.

“I have carefully considered all the facts deposed to in the affidavit of urgency and in the light of the facts deposed to … I consider this to be one the cases in which the court will exercise its discretion to grant the order sought howbeit for a temporary period.”

The order “shall be in force until the hearing of the motion on notice fixed for 7/12/2005.’’

As the court session went on, the four South West PDP governors held a closed-door meeting with Ladoja as rumour spreads that he may leave the party over the attitude of Aso rock to the dispute between him and Adedibu.

They arrived Ibadan around 2 p.m and went straight into the parley at Agodi Government House.

Their intervention is borne out of the importance of Ibadan as the political capital of the South West, where Ladoja is referred to as the Governor General.

Also, the governors are worried that since the death of seven of Ladoja’s aides in an auto accident on the Lagos-Ibadan expressway last month, he has stayed aloof from the activities that bring South West governors together.

He did not attend the installation of the new Alake of Egbaland in Abeokuta, neither the PDP National Executive Council meeting in Abuja nor its South West congress held recently in Osogbo.

Besides, his colleagues are expressing concern about media reports of the tense political situation in Oyo State and the clashes of his and Adedibu’s factions which could signal danger for the democratic experiment.

There are plans by the governors to meet with Adedibu separately.

On Tuesday, Ladoja represented Vice President Atiku Abubakar, at the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) workshop held in Ibadan, the first such public appearance in recent months.

Observers said the action shows his readiness to go with the Atiku camp which he has been accused of fraternising with.

A source recalled that Ladoja fell out of favour with President Olusegun Obasanjo because of his closeness to Atiku.

His opponents have capitalised on it to ally with the President in their bid to get him out of office.

The state House of Assembly has been out of session since September following the plan to impeach him.

The lawmakers have broken into two factions. The mace is in the custody of the police.

An attempt by the Adedibu camp to retrieve it proved abortive as the police insisted that it can only be released when all legislators agree to that.