The Ogun state chapter of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has urged all members who defected to the party on the heels of the last general elections to register in their respective wards in order to become legitimate party members
The state party chairman, Sikirulai Ogundele, stated this during a stakeholder meeting held at the party’s secretariat in Abeokuta, while noting that the party is one and ready to incorporate other members ahead of the 2027 elections
Recall that the Abdulkabir Adekunle Akinlade, the deputy governorship candidate in the March 28 2023 election had lamented that members of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) who defected to the party were still treated as outsiders and without membership cards.
Akinlade popularly known as Triple A in June 2022 defected to PDP with over 20,000 APM members in Ogun state.
Ogundele explained that the meeting was aimed at settling the rift between members who are aggrieved due to the internal wrangling.
“We called this meeting to settle the rift between members who are aggrieved. It is because of the internal wranglings in the party that we lost the elections
“ We won’t break this party, we will settle our disagreement in private and we will not wash our dirty linens outside.
“ We are one in PDP, Akinlade, Adebutu, OGD and late Kashamu are all members of PDP, they are all reputable, responsible and respectable party leaders”, he said
He however urged all members to contribute to the progress of the party adding that the excos would meet soon for the reinstatement of all suspended members.
“The party must be funded by collective leadership of the party. We must not tie the success and the running of the party to one person, every member must have right to this party and if you want to have right you must invest.
“Please go back to your wards and start contributing to the party”, he added.
In his remark, former House of Representative member, Hon. Adesegun Adekoya, stressed the necessity of party reorganisation in order to foster harmony and togetherness among members.
“We must rejig the current leadership structure of the party to allow for equity and fairness. We must always insist on party supremacy, this is the only way PDP can be overcome its challenges,” Adesegun said.