A former Senate Deputy Chief Whip, Senator
Hosea Agboola has disclosed that former
governors of Oyo State, Senator Rasidi
Ladoja and Chief Adebayo Alao-Akala will
soon return to the Peoples Democratic Party
(PDP).
Others expected to move to the former
ruling party are the governorship candidate
of Social Democratic Party (SDP) Engineer
Seyi Makinde.
Agboola, who represented Oyo North
Senatorial District between 2011 and 2015
made the disclosure in Ibadan on Thursday
at a peace parley where the harmonisation
of all the factions in the state chapter of the
PDP topped the agenda.
He also stressed that there was nothing like
a caretaker committee in the state because
there was no congress held to put such
arrangement in place, adding that the
Senator Ahmed Makarfi-led national
caretaker committee had made that clear at
its National Executive Council Meeting held
within the week.
At the well-attended meeting were Chief
Jacob Adetoro; Honourable Jimoh Afees;
former ALGON Chairman in the state Hon.
Demola Ojo; Mr. Wasiu Adeleke who
represented Makinde, immediate past
Chairman of the PDP Alhaji Yinka Taiwo;
Honourable Adeniyi Farinto; Hon. Michael
Okunlade; Hon. Jelili Adeleke; Mr. Adebisi
Olopoenia and Hon. Funmi Orisadeyi.
Recall that Ladoja left PDP in 2010 in the
wake of the leadership tussle that engulfed
the party over the 2011 governorship ticket,
while the duo of Alao-Akala and Makinde
dumped the party for the same reason in
2014 and joined Labour Party (LP) and Social
Democratic Party (SDP) respectively.
Agboola said that the PDP leaders at the
national and state levels were already
discussing with the trio, adding that
commitment to rejoin the PDP and join
hands with others to rebuild it into a strong
brand had been extracted from them.
“As far as we are concerned, Seyi Makinde is
more or less in PDP. He met with national
officers and said he was back in PDP.
‘We met with Senator Ladoja and he told us
he is coming to PDP. Our people are also
talking to Alao-Akala who has assured them
he will come back too.
“Across the state, reconciliation is going and
even cross the country and PDP is going to
win the central government and also take
back the state government in 2019.
“Our national leaders are also discussing
with Ladoja and Alao-Akala and they have
promised that they will come back to the
PDP and I believe they will join us”.
Ladoja while reacting to Agboola’s
statement in a telephone conversation with
journalists confirmed that the PDP national
leadership, as well as leaders in the state
were asking him to come and lead the party
in the state.
“Senator Makarfi has called me, just as
Senator Ben Obi has also done. The leaders
in the state have also met with me. They
want us to do the kind of coalition that gave
PDP victory in the 2003 governorship
election in the state.
“I have told those in the state to go and
discuss among themselves and bring
whatever they agree to us for discussion. If
it is the wish of their people that we should
work together, we are ready.
“As Accord, we are also talking to other
people. Just recently, former presidential
spokesperson, Dr Doyin Okupe, declared for
Accord and there are many more that have
promised to join us. We are open to such
discussion”.
Alao-Akala confirmed that although PDP
national leaders were in talks with him and
discussing his return to the party, he
remains a member of the All Progressives
Congress (APC) in the state.
“The fact that they are talking to me does
not mean I have rejoined them. As of today,
I am a member of the APC”, he said.
In the same vein, Makinde who spoke
through the Publicity Secretary of SDP, Alhaji
Akeem Azeez confirmed that Makinde sent a
representative to the meeting convened by
Senator Agboola with the mandate to
observe proceedings.
“Makinde is not back in PDP. But we are
holding meetings with all major parties
including PDP”, he stated.
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