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.
DAILY POST recalled 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.
He added 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.
Comments