OVER 4,000 members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) members in Akure North Local Government Area of Ondo State on Sunday renounced their membership of the party to join the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The former members of the APC said they decided to pitch their tents with the PDP henceforth because of what they termed the bad reputation of the APC in the state and the hardship its leadership in the country has inflicted on the people.
Receiving the defectors, the state governor, Dr Olusegun Mimiko, thanked them for their decision to join hands with true progressives to ensure that the state remains a model that it has been for other states in the country and the continent.
Represented by the states Commissioner for Information, Mr Kayode Akinmade, Mimiko said the APC is planning to privatise the state’s facilities provided by the PDP government to bridge the gap between the rich and the poor.
Mentioning the Mother and Child hospitals, Mega schools and Free Bus Shuttle programme as some already pencilled down for privatisation if elected to power, Mimiko said if allowed to happen, this would defeat the purpose of establishing them.
According to the leader of the defectors from Ward 9 in the local government, Joseph Owolagba, “it has become glaring that it will be difficult for any party to meet or surpass the achievements of the PDP government in the state.”
According to him, “the hardship in the country is becoming unbearable,” adding that prices of commodities have soared beyond the reach of the common man.
He said the achievements of the Dr Olusegun Mimiko-led PDP government were enough for any progressive minded person to identify with the party insisting that “there is no government in the state that has touched the lives of the people of the local government like the present government.”
Also speaking at the event which took place in Oba Ile, where the Commissioner for Youth and Sport, Mr Dayo Aude, was also present, the Deputy Chairman of the PDP in the state, Honourable Fatai Adams, praised Dr Mimiko for his sense of dedication and achievements recorded in the state