……..dispels fears of implosion
A national leader of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Bola Tinubu, has dispelled fears that an implosion is imminent in the party due to the influx of defectors ahead of the 2019 elections.
The former governor of Lagos State spoke on Saturday on the side-lines of the reception organised by the APC for former Oyo State governor, Adebayo Alao-Akala, who defected from Labour Party and former Senate Leader, Teslim Folarin, and others who decamped from the PDP at the Mapo Hall Arcade, Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.
He told journalists that the APC possessed the capacity to accommodate all the bigwigs and successfully manage all the challenges that would come with it.
“We have a stainless kitchen and we can accommodate as many cooks as possible and because we will have a variety of menu in the political kitchen of planning this future,” he said.
“We love those big wigs and we can accommodate them all. It is in the same forest that you find a hippo that you find an elephant and you will find a rabbit. In political platforms, you must look for the addition not the minus.”
Mr. Alao-Akala, who served as governor from 2007 to 2011 on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, had moved to the Labour Party shortly before the 2015 general elections.
Other defectors who were received on Saturday include former deputy governor of the state and former Nigerian Ambassador to Jordan, Taofeek Arapaja; former Secretary to the State Government, Ayodele Adigun; and the only federal lawmaker elected on the platform of PDP to the House of Representatives. Segun Odebunmi.
Rauf Olaniyan, Ayoola Makanjuola, and Rasaq Gbadegesin were also received into the party along with their supporters.
Those who were at the Mapo Hall to receive the defectors were Mr. Tinubu, Oyo State governor, Abiola Ajimobi, and his counterpart from Osun and Ondo States, Rauf Aregbesola and Rotimi Akeredolu.
Segun Oni, a former governor of Ekiti State and Deputy National Chairman (South West), as well as Pius Akinyelure, National Vice Chairman (South West) were also part of the reception.
Premium Times NG
