Ekiti: Another dep gov quits PDP, says party has lost bearing

Hours after some prominent members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ekiti State, dumped the party for the Social Democratic Party, former deputy governor, Dr. Sikiru Lawal, defected from the party.
Lawal said yesterday that he decided to part ways with the party because of some irreconcilable differences over the forthcoming primary of the party.
He accused the state governor, Ayodele Fayose, of imposing his deputy, Prof. Kolapo Olusola, alleging further that the delegates’ list had been tailored to favour the Governor’s preferred candidate.
Lawal, who was the deputy governor to former Governor Segun Oni, who ruled Ekiti between 2007 and October 15, 2010, in a letter dated April 3, 2019 and addressed to the PDP Chairman in Ward 9, Ado Ekiti, Mr. Tope Makanjuola, said his resignation takes effect from the date he communicated same to the party.
Parts of the letter reads: “I wish to notify you of my intention to resign my appointment as a non-executive Director representing Ekiti State on the board of Odu’a investment Company Limited with effect from 1st May, 2018.
“Whatever you do in politics, you do it for yourself and your people. It seems PDP no longer needs us, because the processes leading to our primary have been badly manipulated in favour of an aspirant.
“The message was clear that there is no level playing ground again in our party and there is no point wasting time in a party that has lost its bearing, because the PDP is no longer the people’s choice, it has lost its goodwill due to pervasive impunity in the system.
“The PDP supposed to be a democratic party, but this is not the case. I am not over ambitious but I have no choice than to leave when someone has said your services are no longer needed”, he said.
However, he did not disclose the political platform he would defect to with his supporters across the 177 wards in the state.
Some of the aspirants who had already defected from the PDP in Ekiti State to the SDP included the former deputy Governors to Ayodele Fayose, Mr Bisi Omoyeni and Abiodun Aluko, the former Ambassador to Canada, and Mr Dare Bejide.
Also, Senator Fatima Raji Rasaki Lawal, who is also a governorship aspirant, resigned his position as a non-executive Director in Odu’a Investment Company Limited.