No fewer than 2,000 members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) on
Thursday defected to the Labour Party (LP) in Akure, Ondo State.
The PDP and the ACN members in Idanre Local Government Area decamped to LP, barely two months to the Ondo State governorship election.
Some of the defected members were former ACN Women Leader, Mrs Akinniyi Sade, former ACN Youth leader, Mr Abudu Bankole and former PDP Vice Chairman, Mr Bolutayo Deke, among others.
Deputy Governor Alli Olanusi received the new entrants on behalf of Gov. Olusegun Mimiko at the governor’s office in Akure.
Mimiko, while thanking the people for appreciating the good deeds of his administration, warned them against succumbing to the antics of the opposition parties.
According to him, the oppositions are bent on disparaging the various visible good works of the administration.
The governor said that there were enough opportunities in the LP for everybody to come along in the task of transforming the state, adding that the number of years a member joined the party counted for nothing in the party.
“Your recognition as members of our great party is not based on your numbers of years in the party. Your contribution to the success of the party is what we use to rate you as authentic members.
“Idanre is one of the strongholds of LP. I want to appeal to you to go back home, look for your voters’ card and make sure that nobody comes around to deceive you.
“You must not allow anybody to buy your card, that is your right, and that is the only way you can safeguard the future of this state,” Mimiko said.
He encouraged the women among the decamped former PDP and ACN members to key into the various empowerment schemes of the government by forming themselves into cooperative societies to enable them to benefit from the loans’ scheme.
The leader of the defectors, Mrs Akinniyi Sade, said that the Mimiko-led government in the state had impacted positively on the lives of the people.
She said that in Idanre and its environs, the administration had alleviated the suffering of the people by reconstructing the Amegbe bridge, construction of the modern mega market
, roads and various empowerment programmes for the people.
The women leader assured that the people of Idanre would record 100 per cent votes for Mimiko in October to ensure that more dividends of democracy could be extended to all parts of the state.