APDA members rejoin PDP in Ondo

HUNDREDS of members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ondo state who dumped the party for the Advanced Peoples Democratic Party (APDA) at the wake of the leadership crisis within the PDP on Monday returned to the party.

The people who hinged their defection to APDA to the crisis said they decided to fuse the structure of APDA in the state into PDP after the ruling of the Supreme Court verdict that affirmed Ahmed Markarfi as the National Chairman of the PDP.

Speaking on behalf of the people, Secretary of ADPA in the state,  Yemi Tadema, said they decided to come back home to strengthen and reposition PDP in the state to win future election.

According to him, the group never left PDP as being insinuated in some quarters but said they decided to register APDA as an alternative platform during the Sheriff/Markafi leadership crisis.

He said “The APDA in Ondo State came as a result of the factional crisis between Sheriff and Markarfi. As you already know, majority of the people in the PDP are loyal to Markarfi. When they gave Sheriff the judgment at Court of Appeal, we lost concentration.

“However, the plan B arrangement of the PDP is APDA, should Markarfi not win at the Supreme Court; that APDA should be the party that we all belong. We are the front-liner of the APDA hoping that if PDP did not work, we said all of us at Markarfi faction should all go to APDA.

“Now that Markarfi has won at the Supreme Court, we decided to come back home to restore the hope of our members and to reposition the party in the state.

We are not rejoining the party but we are coming back home and we are just fusing the structure of the APDA in the state to the PDP.

Receiving the people back in to the PDP fold,  the Chairman of the party in the state,  Chief Clement Faboyede, welcome the group back home, enjoining them to join hands with others to reposition the party in the state.

Faboyede who shared in the initial fear of the group before the court judgement said “in Ondo state APDA is an integral part of PDP, as far as Ondo state is concern, there is no question about dumping or rejoining the party. Now that the crisis is over with Markarfi as the National Chairman of the party.”

Faboyede said the step taken by the people to return to their home showed their readiness to contribute their own quota to the development of the party in the state

The Chairman however said the leadership of the Party would be ready to work with all the members in moving the train of party forward.