At last a governorship aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Kwara state, Senator Gbemisola Saraki Tuesday, defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state.
Also, the party’s State Youth Leader, Chief Segun Olawoyin formally announced his defection to APC
While Gbemisola announced her decision in Ilorin, Olawoyin made his declaration at a colourful ceremony in Offa, Offa local government area of the state.
The two leaders urged their supporters to vote massively for the party on Saturday.
Senator Saraki said she had joined the APC a fortnight ago but only needed to formalise the defection.
She said she was humiliated by some leaders because of her identity as a Saraki offspring.
She said: “Several friends and associates have asked me why we moved and I have responded by telling them that the reasons are not farfetched; the reason is as important as who we are as political organization. Our ideology finds roots in championing the cause of the grassroots; upholding equity and justice, and especially the vision for a meaningful and passionate leadership. We believe that a true leadership must be predicated on certain values that must be sacrosanct, which must also follow the sanctity of democratic ethos.
“When we joined Kwara PDP, it was for the main reason of enlarging these inalienable values and re-engineering the processes of leadership through the party in order to mirror the true aspirations of Kwarans. Considering the circumstance of the party at the State level, we knew we had to work harder and make sacrifices to deliver a party that would represent the yearnings of our people.
“However, the ensuing pattern of animosity within PDP was strongly placing our ideology on the crosshair of political attacks by elements within the party. Furthermore, the party was evidently hijacked from evolving into a political force that can accommodate the broad interests of the people but allowed to tarry to the selfish ambitions of some elements within its fold.
“Thus, instead of presenting pragmatic solutions and workable templates for developing Kwara, the party abandoned presenting alternative policies and went on meaninglessly attacking and castigating not only the opposition, but even those within the party, especially my very self for no other good reason other than the accident of my birth; a birth of which, by the way, I am very proud of.
“The last straw however, was the failure of the PDP to respect the place of women in politics as a basis of an inclusive template of leadership.
“We therefore have come to the sad realization that the seeming marginalization of women in the PDP is deeply embedded in the party system and leadership and all attempts to cause a change from within have been met with brick walls and blatant prejudices against women leadership.
“The choice was therefore clear – a constricted, backward vision of Kwara, which the opposition represents, or a bold step into the future that guarantees fairness, justice and hope. Thus, the move from the PDP into the APC was an easy decision for us considering our history with PDP and our vision for our future.
“After wide consultations, we found in APC a platform that mirrors the ideals of our political family both in content and context especially with under the leadership of General Muhammdu Buhari.
“We are assured in the promise of the APC for a new Nigeria. We are confident in the commitment of the President-elect to social justice, rule of law and economic posterity for all.”
Olawoyin said that he had earlier in the day attended a meeting of PDP members set to defect to the APC.
He was convinced the end had come for the PDP given the calibre of people he saw at the meeting.
He hinged his decision to dump the PDP to the call of his community pointing out that while he remained in the PDP his people had consistently pleaded with him to team up with the progressives.
“With Gbemi Saraki also coming to the APC it means the synergy between the Sarakis and Olawoyin political families will only get stronger.”
He added that that his sojourn in the PDP was full of disappointments.
