Mimiko’s defection won’t affect us —APC, LP •Group calls for calm among Oyo LP members

Mimiko’s defection won’t affect us —APC, LP •Group calls for calm among Oyo LP members

THE Ondo State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), on Sunday, said the defection of the state governor, Dr Olusegun Mimiko, to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), would have no effect on its fortune.

This is coming as a chieftain of the PDP in the state, Benson Enikuemehin, said the defection of the governor would be meaningful if it did not affect its fortune negatively.

He said he expected the movement of the governor from the ruling Labour Party (LP) to the PDP to bring progress rather being an albatross.

However, the state chapter of APC, in a statement by its publicity secretary, Mr Abayomi Adesanya, said the defection of Mimiko did not come to the party as a surprise, as he had always been a member of the party.

Adesanya said: “The news of the defection of Mimiko to the PDP did not come as a surprise to some of us. He has been hobnobbing with the PDP at the national level for a very long time as an annex, though he has no good relationship with the state chapter.

However, Enikuomehin, in his reaction said “even before this latest development, the fortune of the PDP is already waxing stronger in the state, as attested to in the ‘inconclusive’ bye-election in Ilaje/Ese-Odo Federal Constituency.”

He wondered what could be the motive for defecting to the PDP, knowing full well that his former party, LP, was not in anyway enmeshed in crisis.

Meanwhile, against the backdrop of the planned defection of Mimiko to the PDP, the chairman of the LP in Osun State, Mr Timothy Olatunji, on Sunday, said such development would affect the chances of the party, especially during the 2015 general elections.

He affirmed that despite being the only governor on the platform of the LP, Mimiko’s moves to declare for the PDP was not capable of threatening the electoral chance and fortunes the LP in future electioneering activities.

Speaking during a chat with newsmen in Osogbo, on Sunday, Olatunji stated that though responses received from the national headquarters of the party showed that Mimiko had not informed them of his return to his former party, LP would restrategise to shore up its appeal to the people.

According to him, “Osun State chapter of the LP would not be affected if Mimiko choose to dump the party,” adding that since the present executive came on board, it had not received much support from the Ondo State governor,” Olatunji remarked.

In a related development, a group within the LP in Oyo State, Olabode Foundation, has called for calm among members of the party, despite the rumoured defection of Governor Mimiko the PDP.

In a statement issued on Sunday, a copy of which was made available to the Nigerian Tribune, the group urged the party members to remain steadfast, as the defection would not impact negatively on the chances of the party to win election in Oyo State in 2015.

The statement, signed by the state coordinator, Mr Adeniran Adeleye and state leader, Chief Adeola Ebisemiju, read in part: “We remain resolute and determined to win all elective positions under the umbrella of the LP in Oyo State come 2015. We are working hard and the good people of Oyo State are solidly behind the LP.”

The group called on LP members not to panic over the defection “as LP continues to get bigger and stronger by the day.”

The group, however, reiterated its support for the second term ambition of President Goodluck Jonathan.

“We are solidly behind the second term aspiration of President Goodluck Jonathan and we join all well-meaning Nigerians and the Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN), to call on him to declare his ambition to run in 2015 so that the transformation work can continue,” the statement said.