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Banji Okunomo, a former governorship aspirant under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ondo has dumped the opposition party, Peoples Gazette has learnt.
Mr Okunomo, who is also an erstwhile Local Government Council Chairman in Ilaje, resigned in a letter sighted by The Gazette on Monday.
In the letter addressed to the PDP Chairman in Ugbo Ward I of Ilaje LGA of Ondo, the chieftain said he came about his decision after series of consultations.
He said his decision was due to the internal wranglings affecting the party at the national level.
Mr Okunomo defected from the party alongside the former Chairman of Okitipupa LGA, Solomon Bitire, and the campaign coordinator of the 2023 Presidential Campaign Council in Ilaje LGA, Jossy Ehinmore.
Others included; former Counselor, Malo Olorunwa, and former OSOPADEC Commissioner, Bisi ilawole.
The Gazette reports that the defection of the chieftains of the opposition party is coming barely a few weeks that Atiku Abubakar, candidate of the PDP, lost the February 25 presidential election to Bola Tinubu.
Reacting to the defection, the leadership of the PDP described them as “serial decampees leaving the party with equanimity”.
The party, in a statement issued by its Spokesperson, Kennedy Peretei, said the “same characters” have moved in and out of the party twice in the last 18 months.
Mr Peretei noted that the defection of the chieftains was a confirmation of their nomadic essence as politicians.
“To put the record straight, Banji Okunomo, Solomon Bitire, and their gang of court jesters declared that the PDP was dead in Ondo South, shortly after the PDP Governorship primary election in 2020.
“They defected to the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) but shamelessly returned to PDP after their tragic outing that was a measure of their political relevance.
“In all honesty, why should the PDP lose sleep over the exit of such colourless, inconsequential, and serial decampees?
“It won’t be any surprise if they are treated as political prostitutes wherever they may go. Our party can only wish them the best of luck in their sojourn. In any case, any time they wish to come back, our doors are open. Now that they have established that, they are political herdsmen,” he added in the statement.
According to him, majority of them have consistently lost their polling units during elections, adding that they have always been trailed by failure.
Last week, some chieftains and leaders of the party, led by a former member of the State House of Assembly, Adeyinka Banso, left the PDP for the APC, also citing leadership crisis as the cause for his defection.
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