Wole Balogun, Ado-Ekiti
A member of Federal House of Representatives from Ekiti State, Pastor Kehinde Agboola, has urged former members of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), who left the party in annoyance, to retrace their steps and rejoin the party.
Agboola, who represents Ekiti North Federal Constituency 1 in the National Assembly, gave the admonition in a chat with journalists at his residence in Odo-Oro-Ekiti, on Monday.
The PDP chieftain said the interest of the defectors is best protected in the party than in other less popular political parties.
He reminded the former PDP members of the fact that Ekiti State was a peculiar case where defectors hadn’t make success in elective positions.
According to him, history had not been kind to defectors in Ekiti politics, stressing that they always achieved nothing other than wasting their time ,energies and resources.
“You will discover that in the history of politics in Ekiti State those who leave their original party for another don’t normally make headway or make success in their new parties.
“Look at all those who the PDP they were unable to get the tickets in their new parties let alone winning the election..But we in PDP can still welcome them back. ”
“We still appealing to them to retrace their steps and come back. We can only have one governor at a time. And look at itthe process of our Governorship Primaries is open ,transparent, free and fair. Even the co-contestants applauded the exercise.”
“So, I don’t think it right for any true party man to quit because ,he or she lost. It is only God that ordains And if leadership is about service. I don’t think there is any need to get desperate I keep saying it we must give kudos to our leader in Ekiti State, Dr. Peter Ayodele Fayose for given the right leadership otherwise, they will not have less than 15 gubernatorial aspirants .”
“Look at what is happening in the opposition All Progressives Congress(APC).Look at the quantum of money wasted on the exercise.
“But we have status in PDP, if by the time Governor Fayose picked his deputy ,Prof. Kolapo Olusola as anointed candidate around September in 2016 ,though painfully. We all accepted it in good faith.
“There may be any need for anybody to waste his or her resources jumping to another party .What we learnt from history is that party’s popularity and acceptability cater for about 60percent of the success of any candidate while the candidates popularity contribute a the remaining 40percent.”
“We have started the campaign and we are encouraging our youths .We are not telling them that they are lazy, because the government that is calling them lazy youths is also guilty of not given them jobs,” he said.
