Barely two days to the presidential election, the Ondo State
deputy governor, Alhaji Ali Olanusi, has dumped the Peoples
Democratic Party to the rival All Progressives Congress in the
state.
The development came barely five days after the Rivers State
Deputy Governor, Mr. Tele Ikuru, dumped the APC for PDP.
In a swift reaction to Olanusi’s defection, the Ondo state
government said it wished the deputy governor well.
The state Commissioner for Information, Kayode Akinmade, in
a two-paragraph statement, said, “The state government just
received the news of the defection of Alhaji All Olanusi, the
Deputy Governor of Ondo State, to the All Progressives
Congress.
“Though it came as a surprise, the government acknowledges
his right to determine his political affiliation and wish him
well.”
Announcing his defection on Thursday, Olanusi, in a
statement, said, “While still being in place as the
democratically-elected Deputy Governor of Ondo State, I have
decided to lead my teeming supporters and well wishers in the
state into the All Progressives Congress where we can find
justice, fairness, equity and democratic liberty, a party to
which majority of our kith and kin in Yorubaland belong.
“I have taken this decision at this critical time, in the best
interest of peace, stability and good governance of our dear
state and for the overall development of the South-West and
the nation.”
The deputy governor noted that as a result of the unfolding
political development in the country, particularly in Ondo State,
it was clear that he needed to chart a new course for majority
of his followers who looked up to him for direction and
leadership.
“They (his followers) have watched helplessly in the last six
years the untold marginalisation and total exclusion from the
government they laboured to put in place,” he said.
The APC in the state, which received the news with delight,
stated that the development signalled victory for the party in
the coming elections.
The Publicity Secretary of the party, Omo’oba Adesanya, said
the party welcomed the deputy governor into the party, saying
more PDP members would be joining APC before the election.
He said, “We welcome him into the fold of the APC. It shows
that the wind of change that is blowing is across board.
“Olanusi understands the political rhythm and he is dancing to
it appropriately. Change is imminent and victory is certain.”
Meanwhile, the Deputy Speaker of the Ondo State House
Assembly, Dare Emiola, has dissociated himself from the
Olanusi’s action.
Olanusi and Eniola are both from the Akoko South-West Local
Government Area and had hitherto been strong political allies.
Eniola, in a statement in Akure on Thursday, asserted his
continued membership of the PDP in spite of Olanusi’s
defection.
He said, “I want to use this opportunity to dissociate myself
from the actions of the deputy governor, Alhaji Olanusi, who
dumped the PDP for APC.
“All the honourable members of the Ondo State House of
Assembly are still full-fledged members of the PDP to which I
belong.”
He also said the PDP would sweep the polls on Saturday
despite the defection of the deputy governor, calling on all
supporters of the party to remain steadfast.
The traditional ruler of Supare Akoko, hometown of Olanusi,
Oba Adejoro Adedeji, also on Thursday described the deputy
governor’s defection as “a rude shock and embarrassment to
the Supare community.”
The monarch said this in a chat with journalists in Akure.
Adedeji, who noted that the defection was of no effect, said
the decision of the deputy governor was unilateral as he never
informed any member of the community before he defected.
“Olanusi is on his own,” he said.
Also on Thursday, the PDP in Ondo State said Olanusi was
never a member of the party going by the last re-registration
exercise conducted in the party.
A statement by the party’s Publicity Director, Ayo Fadaka,
stated that the deputy governor was not registered both in his
ward and local government by the party.
The Ondo PDP spokesman said, “It is however pertinent for us
to underscore the fact that Alhaji Olanusi is not a member of
the PDP in Ondo State as he was not re-registered in his
ward and local government by the party.
“While admitting that he attended two party functions
recently, he was a passive observer at such functions and his
attendance does not in any manner confer membership on
him.
“By his latest political gymnastic, it is obvious that he had
been a clandestine member of the APC and a mole in the
government of Governor Olusegun Mimiko and has just
received the order to declare openly for them.”
He noted that Olanusi’s action was intended to serve as a
response to the declaration of Ikuru in Rivers, adding that
“both are however not in the same cadre, while Ikuru possess
the power and influence to inflict devastating damages on
APC in Rivers State, same cannot be said of Ali Olanusi of
Ondo State.”