Former Secretary of Peoples Democratic Party in Ekiti State, Dr Tope Aluko, on Monday formally dumped the party for the All Progressives Congress, saying he was in the safe hands of focused leaders which the ruling party is made of.
Aluko, an ally of the former Governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose, said APC had been a blessing to his Iyin Ekiti hometown through elective and appointive positions, noting that his defection alongside his teeming supporters to the party was to add value and strengthen it for victory in the 2022 governorship and 2023 general elections.
The former PDP chieftain, who spoke while formally joining the APC at Ward B Secretariat, in Iyin Ekiti, in Irepodun/Ifelodun Council Area of the state, said, “I can boldly say that the APC remains the only party to align with at this present time. All Tope Aluko followers are currently enlisting into APC and I am happy to be part of the moving train.
“I can beat my chest and say I am in safe hands as APC is lucky to be in the hands of focused leaders like Governor Kayode Fayemi, Otunba Niyi Adebayo and others in the state.
“If you are from Iyin Ekiti, you will know that Governor Kayode really favoured us in elective and appointive positions, so I am coming to add value to this party. I am not here to cause trouble. They have given me the guidelines and I am ready to abide by it in the interest of discipline in our party”.
Aluko, who described Fayose as “a mentor, brother and friend”, said, “In December last year, I told the former governor that I wanted to settle down in Iyin Ekiti and play my politics. I told him I would be joining APC and he approved of it. So, this defection won’t strain our relationship in any way.”
APC State Chairman, Paul Omotoso, who alongside other party chieftains received Aluko into the party, expressed happiness, saying he was not just an ordinary member, but a “big fish”.
Omotoso, who urged members to be steadfast in their support to APC by avoiding unwarranted discrimination that could create cleavages in the party, said, “No new joiners in APC. We are all equal and you start benefitting the very day you join us, so nobody would discriminate against you.
“For the sake of clarification, Tope Aluko had for long been in APC, this ceremony is just a formality. I know our people in the opposition are rattled by this defection because his decamping into APC will affect them adversely,” the APC chairman said.
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