Akinlade rejoins Ogun APC alongside supporters from PDP and APM
Akinlade rejoins Ogun APC alongside supporters from PDP and APM
Abdulkabir Akinlade, the running mate to Ladi Adebutu, the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) 2023 governorship candidate in Ogun State, has returned to the All Progressives Congress (APC) along with the former PDP state chairman, Sikirulai Ogundele, and their supporters.
The political figures were formally received at the APC state secretariat in Abeokuta on Thursday.
Akinlade, popularly known as Triple A, had announced his departure from the PDP about a month ago, citing “persistent and unresolved internal crisis” within the party’s Ogun chapter.
A former member of the House of Representatives and the Allied People’s Movement (APM) governorship candidate in 2019, Akinlade had originally defected from the APC to the PDP ahead of the 2023 elections to join forces with Adebutu in an effort to unseat Governor Dapo Abiodun.
Speaking at the APC secretariat, Akinlade described the defection as a homecoming for all of them, insisting that thousands of both PDP and APM members had returned to the APC.
He said, “From where we were coming, once our leader speaks, that is all, he has said it all. That means that we have had our meetings at home, we are here as a team, and we are speaking with a voice.
“In addition, the PDP family and the APM family that I led out of this party about six years ago are all fully back in the party.
“We have sat down to work it together, we have met with Mr Governor and we have discussed and agreed that we are all moving back home en masse, not one person will be left behind by the grace of God.”
Ogundele, on his part, stated that with the defection, two-thirds of the PDP had moved to the ruling party.
He boasted that as the structural leader of the PDP in the state, only a handful of the party members would stay back after his move.
“When the drum rhythm changes, the dance steps must change.
“In Nigeria today the drum sound has changed and is the same in Ogun State. For a political strategist who is a veteran in this business, such a person must be forward-thinking and we have given this our thought and we have thought about it so rightly.
“We are not just decamping or defecting, but we are moving the entire structure of the PDP to the ruling party.
“I am the structural and strategic leader of that party and wherever I move to the structure of the party moves there,” he said.
He praised the leadership of both President Bola Tinubu and Governor Dapo Abiodun, describing their governance as impactful.
“We have much to discuss, but time won’t permit it. Our President is performing excellently, and the same goes for Ogun State. Prince Dapo Abiodun’s administration has made a significant impact in this state,” he said.
