SOME members of the Ondo Peoples Democratic Party who recently defected to the All Progressives Congress have said that Governor Olusegun Mimiko has failed the people of the state.
The former PDP chieftains included a former Commissioner for Education, Dr. Pius Osunyikanmi, a former senator that represented the Ondo-Central senatorial district, Ayo Akinyelure, a former Speaker, Ondo State House of Assembly, Clement Olawale, a member, Ondo State Sports Commission, Monday Adamu, among others.
Osunyikanmi said, “Many of us have left the PDP because the party is not a progressive party and we have decided to join the APC to help the party win the governorship election. Governor Mimiko has failed the people of this state.”
Osunyikanmi spoke on Thursday during a defection rally organised in Akure.
He accused the governor of betraying some political leaders in the South-West such as the National Leader of the APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, and the late former governors Adebayo Adefarati and Olusegun Agagu.
Akinyelure, who represented Ondo-Central senatorial district between 2011 and 2015, said he decided to team up with the APC in other to join the progressive train.
Osunyikanmi, who is currently the Director General of the Technical Aide Corps, urged the people of the state to support the APC in the oncoming governorship election.
Akinyelure said, “We are here to support the APC. Therefore, you should not see us as outsiders. We left the PDP to join the progressives. Conservative politics is dead in Ondo State.”
Reacting, the Ondo State Commissioner for Information, Mr. Kayode Akinmade, described the defectors as a bunch of greedy people, ‘who think they can benefit where they did not sow’.
Akinmade said, “Osunyikanmi feels that his job is threatened with the PDP out of power at the federal level. That is why he is saying all manner of rubbish in order to keep his job.
“Mimiko didn’t betray him when he (Mimiko) made him a commissioner. Mimiko didn’t betray him when Mimiko recommended him to former President Goodluck Jonathan who appointed him as DG, TAC. Mimiko didn’t betray him when he made him his Personal Assistant and Special Adviser.
“They all have bitten the fingers that fed them. Their places in history will be made known soon. Their defection is good riddance. With somebody like Osunyikanmi, you don’t need an enemy.”