ONDO State All Progressives Congress (APC) said yesterday that the defection of its former governorship aspirant, Chief Olusola Oke, to Alliance for Democracy (AD) will not affect its chances in the November 26 poll.
It said it would rather “collapse the already sinking Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)”, where Jegede has a chunk of his supporters.
The party’s spokesman, Omo’ba Abayomi Adesanya, said none of his core members defected with Oke to AD.
The APC added that his defection did not take the party by surprise since “a Leopard will never change its spot”.
The party revealed that its leadership, particularly those in the Southwest, have never for once trusted Oke’s claim that he was done with the PDP.
It noted that it was one of the reasons why he was moving from one media house to another, pledging his loyalty to the party and promising not to defect from APC, if he did not get the party’s ticket.
It stressed that despite Oke was “wearing the cloth of APC”, they “still believe that the blood of PDP runs in his vein”.
The party alleged that it was aware from day one when Oke joined APC that he did not love the party, but only has a mission to it and leave.
The APC said: “That was why Oke was the first aspirant to raise an alarm over the governorship primary election and thereafter arranged his female cook and one of his family members to present themselves as fake delegates allegedly used during the poll to dent the free and fair poll.”
It alleged that the politician’s character was behind the reason why APC failed to win his local government in Ilaje during the poll.
The APC added that Oke could not deliver two constituencies in his local government during the state assembly election despite his claim that he was strong in the riverine area.
It said: “We are relieved that Oke has finally left our great party; we can now sleep with our two eyes closed.
“The fear of mole in our party has vanished; we can now hold political discussion without fear of betrayal.
“This forthcoming election will be a contest of integrity versus valueless images. We are sure that the people of Ondo State are watching and they are ready to follow the path of integrity.
“We thank God that our party is finally free from pretenders; those who love their ambitions than the good people of Ondo State.
“We are confident that with the people of Ondo State behind us, victory is a starting point.”