by Mayowa Aboah

The planned defection of Ondo State governor, Olusegun Mimiko, from Labour Party (LP) to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has been described by Olusola Oke,  a PDP gubernatorial candidate in 2012, as a blessing.

Oke, who contested against the incumbent governor, Mimiko back in 2012, said the merits of the governor’s coming to the party far outweigh the demerits.

He stated that Mimiko’s defection will completely put an end to the All Progressives Congress (APC) challenge in the state; expressing optimism that PDP would take over South West in the 2015 general elections.

“I see his coming as a plus. First and foremost, the governor is bound to come with a large number of followers and supporters who will add value to our party.

“Secondly, there are many things that we as leaders can now do together; a thing that one eye will see, two eyes will see it better. And so, we want to contribute our experience to assist him in running a state of ours. It’s no longer going to be a personal idea of the governor, a personal idea of those who are in Labour Party.

“It is going to be an amalgamation of ideas from different backgrounds from PDP hitherto, from Labour Party hitherto, from APC that are also likely to fall in line because it will be senseless for anybody to want to remain in APC in Ondo State. Even with PDP alone, APC has no ground in Ondo State and with Labour Party joining now; it will mean that we can sweep off APC completely from Ondo State.”

He advised people of the state to receive the news of the governor’s proposed defection with open arms, stressing that it would engender prosperity, peace and development to the generality of people of the state.

Emmanuel Chidiogo