By Steve Oni, Ilorin

 Even as rumours of impending defection of top APC chieftains gains ground in Kwara State, fresh round of  crisis is brewing in the state's chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

 The bone of contention this time around is on the purported plan by a faction of the party to conduct ward and local government congresses in five local government areas of the state.

 The factions of the party, being led by Akogun Iyiola Oyedepo and Prince Sunday Fagbemi, had been at logger heads since 2015 state congress held in Ilorin, the state capital.

 It is recalled that there are wards and local governments that did not participate in the last state congress of the party in November 2017.

 The new state chairman that emerged from the Congress, Akogun Iyiola Oyedepo, had purportedly slated the ward/local government congresses for February 3 and 10, 2018 respectively.

 A statement signed by the PDP factional state publicity secretary, loyal to Prince Sunday Fagbemi, Alhaji Ganiyu Alawo, and made available to journalists in Ilorin, urged PDP supporters in the state not to participate in the congresses, saying that conduct of such congress by anyone now was illegal and would be null and void.

 The statement, which said that some leaders of the party had met with the national secretary and some members of the national working committee of the party in Abuja last week, added that the meeting had resolved that the issue of Kwara PDP's conflicts would be reviewed.

 Also speaking, Akogun Iyiola Oyedepo said that it was not his executive members that had planned the congresses, adding that it was the responsibility of the national leadership of the party to conduct ward and local government congresses.

 "  It's the responsibility of the national leadership to do the congresses and it's the national leadership that is doing it. If they are aggrieved or against the congresses one way or the other, they should approach the national leadership. It's not within our power in the state to stop it. It's not planned by us. If they are against it and may be they want another date, they can approach the national leadership", he said.

 The statement by the factional PDP spokesman reads: "Our attention has been drawn to the plan by the Akogun Iyiola Oyedepo- led faction of the Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP) in Kwara state to conduct ward and local government congresses in five local government area of Kwara state.

 "These are the wards and local government that did not participate in the last state congress of our party. The congresses have been purportedly slated for February 3 and 10 respectively.

 "We want to urge our supporters not to participate in these congresses because the conduct of such  congress by anyone now is illegal and will be null and void.

 "Some leaders of our party last week met with the national secretary and some members of the national working committee of our party in Abuja and the resolutions we reached at that meeting are as follows:

 . " That the issue of Kwara PDP's conflicts will be reviewed
. That all pending issues concerning the party in the state should be resolved before any congress could be held.
.That each faction within the party should sheath their swords to allow peace reign.
It's on this premise that we are saying that anyone who is bent on conducting any congress at this moment will be fanning the ember of disunity among party members.

 "We urge all PDP members in the state to remain calm but should discountenance any information concerning congresses. We are calling on the security agencies in the state to take note of this development so that there would be no breach of security in the state."