Mimiko set to dump LP for PDP •He’ll announce decision shortly —Aide •We expect Tinubu, el-Rufai, others in PDP –Presidency

Mimiko set to dump LP for PDP •He’ll announce decision shortly —Aide •We expect Tinubu, el-Rufai, others in PDP –Presidency


Ondo State governor, Dr Olusegun Mimiko, has finally commenced the process to dump the Labour Party (LP) and return to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The move followed intense pressure by the leadership of the PDP and President Goodluck Jonathan on Mimiko to fully join the ruling party.

Ondo State commissioner for Information, Mr Kayode Akinmade, confirmed to Saturday Tribune on Friday night that the governor had already met his party’s stakeholders across the state on the pressure on him to rejoin the PDP which he left in 2007.

“He met the stakeholders across the state today and put the issues on the table. A decision will be made and announced very soon,” the commissioner said.

The commissioner added that the pressure was as a result of the feat achieved by Mimiko in 2007 when he left the party to contest on the platform of a relatively unknown LP and won the election.

It was gathered that Mimiko’s meetings with his associates and key supporters at various levels in the state were to work out the modalities for the defection.

Friday’s meeting was said to have involved five leaders of the LP from each of the 18 local government areas of the state.

The meeting, according to sources, afforded the governor the opportunity of laying the cards before the leaders of the party at the state level to enable them make contributions on the move.

The governor, who has always been a supporter of Jonathan, has on many occasions been rumoured to be planning to join the PDP.

It was actually gathered that many of the leaders of the PDP that supported his second term ambition did so with the arrangement that he would join the PDP immediately after the 2012 governorship election.

But each time the news of the planned defection filtered to town, the camp of the governor had always denied the move, saying that Mimiko remained in LP.

However, the pressure, according to sources, became further intense after the Osun State governorship election which the PDP candidate, Iyiola Omisore lost to the incumbent and the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Rauf Aregbesola.

Friday’s meeting of LP leaders from the local governments was said to have been frank as those in attendance were said to have deliberated on the pros and cons of the decision to either join the PDP or stay in the LP and work for Jonathan.

But a source in the meeting told Saturday Tribune that majority of those in attendance supported the idea of joining the PDP.

Akinmade said the consultations by Mimiko were at various levels, including state and national, for stakeholders to contribute to the final decision on the matter.

We expect Tinubu, el-Rufai, others in PDP soon —Presidency

THE presidency has said that some leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC), including Senator Bola Tinubu, are being expected to join the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) soon.

Presidential spokesman, Dr Reuben Abati, who declared the readiness of the PDP to welcome the APC leaders, said it had been exciting receiving opposition figures who have lately crossed over to the side of President Goodluck Jonathan.

“We are waiting for Nasir el-Rufai, Lai Muhammed, Oby Ezekwesili, Dino Melaye and the Jagaban (Bola Tinubu) and their Northern godfathers: may they all see the light, and may the light set them free...We welcome everybody who is willing to be part of that national agenda of progress and transformation.

“Some of their key spokespersons who used to criticise President Jonathan are now all rushing to come to the President’s party. They are in fact gate-crashing.

“I mean, one of the key figures in the APC has declared for the PDP in his home state in Adamawa. And that is a man who was once famously quoted as saying that Nigeria under President Jonathan is a sinking ship.

“The same man is joining that ship because he has seen that the ship is not sinking at all and that the captain of the ship is a good captain who is providing quality leadership. He has seen the light and the light has set him free. That is the kind of illumination that has been happening to many of these persons. They suddenly see the light and they recant and I am very happy.

“Even a former governor and a former minister have also joined the PDP. These are people who used to criticise the ruling government. These are people who used to criticise President Jonathan but they keep seeing the light. We welcome such people.

“These are the people who championed the various abuses and they are turning to our side now and supporting us. I mean, there was one person in the fold of APC who even said I was the child of a same-sex marriage just because I pointed out to him that his criticism of President Jonathan was unfair. Today, he is one of the leading defenders of President Jonathan. The thing speaks for itself, then,” Abati said.

(See full interview on politics page)

Atiku cautions PDP
Meanwhile, ahead of the forthcoming governorship bye election in Adamawa State, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, on Friday, cautioned the leaders of the PDP, to stop playing up sentiments to polarise the people of the state for political advantage.

In a statement made available to newsmen on Friday in Abuja by his media office, the former vice president, who is also a chieftain of the APC, warned that divisive politics would not take Nigeria anywhere and advised PDP leaders in the state to save the state and the rest of the country from the divisive tactics to gain power.

According to him,“unlike many of its neighbours, our state has enjoyed relative peace and stability and we don’t want them to bring divisions among our people who had lived peacefully with one another,”.

“Nigerians will focus on how good governance can change their lives for the better instead of paying attention on the religion and ethnicity of elected public office holders, good performance has nothing to do with one’s religion or ethnicity”,Atiku declared.

He insisted that the APC was for all Nigerians and that it was not a party for Muslims or Christians as being insinuated in some quarters by the PDP so as to cause confusion and division among Nigerians.