The Accord Party and the Peoples Democratic Party have disagreed over the recent decision of the former governor of Oyo State, Senator Rasheed Ladoja, to return to the former ruling party.
This was coming in the wake of the decision by the AP National Working Committee to delist Ladoja as a member of the party, following his recent defection to the PDP.
The AP in Ogun State accused Ladoja of dumping the party unceremoniously after using its platform to contest the governorship election in Oyo State.
The party argued that if not for the “bad” electoral system in the country, Ladoja, who was the AP governorship candidate in Oyo would have won the 2015 election in the state.
The State Publicity Secretary of the AP, Mr. Michael Adesanya, in an exclusive chat with our correspondent in Abeokuta, the state capital, accused Ladoja of playing hide and seek between the two parties with a view to exploiting their platforms whenever it suited him.
Ladoja only used Accord Party platform for selfish agenda
Adesany said, “After gaining ground as a member of the Accord Party and working very hard to win so many seats, the House of representatives and House of Assembly in the state, then he went back to his vomit, he went back to the PDP, and if he has gone back, he can’t just been hanging on to Accord Party anymore. He’s gone to PDP and we wish him good luck there, too.
“The truth is that he had challenges in PDP and he saw integrity in Accord Party, which he did not see in the PDP before and he came to Accord Party, where he was accepted as a member. He would have won that election, if not for the bad system in elections in Nigeria.
“He is no more a member of the Accord Party. His decision confirms that he is no more; he can’t be part of PDP and still be part of Accord Party. He should have resigned formally from Accord Party, but he did not do that. He was playing hide and seek.”
But state Publicity Secretary of the PDP in Ogun, Mr. Bolaji Adeniji, said that the outburst of the AP on Ladoja’s defection indicated that the party was aggrieved.
According to him the former governor of Oyo State felt that staying in AP could fetched him little political achievements and so, he decided to return to the PDP.
Adeniji argued that there was nothing wrong with Ladoja’s action, adding that the party should remember that he was once the governor of Oyo State on the platform of the PDP.
He said, “Maybe it is in bad taste that the accord party is saying so. There is nothing like he has returned to his own vomit. The man has realised that there is little that he can achieve in remaining in Accord Party. So, he has returned to his home and he’s welcome.
“As a PDP chieftain, he is most welcome back to the party. Don’t forget that he was a governor of Oyo State on the platform of PDP and we all know the issues that made him to leave the party. So, if he had sojourned in the Accord Party and now ready to return to the PDP, he is most welcome. He should not be seen as going back to his vomit. Political party affiliation is a free choice, free entry and free exit.”
