The Action Democratic Party (ADP) leadership has asked former Oyo State Governor and the party’s governorship candidate, Christopher Adebayo Alao-Akala, to bury the thought of leaving the party to rejoin the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
In a statement by ADP’s Southwest Chairman, Chief Lateef Arowosaye, which was issued in Ibadan at the weekend, the party said it was unaware of any pact with the APC.
It stated that as far as the party’s leadership was concerned, Alao-Akala remains its governorship candidate, adding that it was too late in the middle of the game for him to align with any political party.
Recall that Alao-Akala had struck a deal after a meeting with the APC National Leader, Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu, to support Adelabu in the forthcoming governorship poll in Oyo State.
But ADP’s statement reads: “Our attention has been drawn to the statement by Otunba Alao-Akala to the effect that he has withdrawn his candidacy from the gubernatorial election in Oyo State scheduled for next week. The ADP wishes to make the following clarifications after consultations at all levels of the party’s leadership:
“We have not been formally informed by Otunba Alao-Akala of his decision to withdraw from the gubernatorial race.
“The gubernatorial ticket belongs to the party and not the candidate.
“The legal department of our party is fully informed and appropriate legal advice is being awaited. The ADP, therefore, remains in the gubernatorial election, more so when the window of substitution of candidates has closed.
“We call on our teeming members and supporters of the ADP to troop out on March 9, 2019 and vote for the ADP in the gubernatorial and House of Assembly elections.
“The ADP wishes to also state that it is not in alliance with the APC in Oyo State.
“We have campaigned on the strength of our positioning as the credible alternative to the ruling APC in Oyo State. It will, therefore, be ridiculous to turn around at the 11th hour and embrace what we have used the lifetime of the ADP to condemn.
“The ADP is, however, in talks with other opposition parties in Oyo State to give the people of Oyo State a new breath of life. We shall duly inform party members and the public at large of this initiative at the fullest of time.”
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