Former Secretary to the Osun State Government, Alhaji Fatai Akinbade,has asserted that the sinking ship of the Nigeria nation, could only be rescued through unity of purpose fostered by the opposition in the country.
According to Akinbade, without the coming together of aggrieved members of the PDP who had left at one point or another, coupled with those still hibernating on different splinter platforms, it would be difficult to dislodge the present occupants who have driven the nation to nowhere since coming on board five years ago.
To this effect, he explained that his decision to rejoin the PDP with his boss, the erstwhile Governor of Osun State, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, was borne out of the desire to further strengthen the country’s democratic setting.
Akinbade who was the PDP State Chairman in 2003 when Oyinlola defeated the Chief Bisi Akande-led Alliance for Democracy (AD),administration in the state, contested the 2018 Osun State Governorship Election, on the platform of African Democratic Congress (ADC).
But addressing hundreds of his supporters from both the Labour Party and the ADC across the 30 local government areas of the state on Monday at his Osogbo, GRA Residence,he explained that they would formally rejoin the PDP on Wednesday, in Ibadan, noting that the move was for the common good of the people.
“Proverbially, if we don’t appreciably urinate on the same spot, our urine can never produce the desired foam. In the kingdom of snakes, imagine Anaconda, Python, Cobra and other dangerous species of snake, moving in a single file. Surely, it will have been taking extra efforts to overcome them. So also if we all come back together under the same umbrella like we used to, it will be much easier for us to achieve better political feat” he advised.
Akinbade noted that he had been under intense pressure from well meaning individuals and party men in and outside the state, for him and the former governor, to be back to the PDP.
“I would have rejoined the PDP after our governorship election in Osun due to pressure from all quarters, but I had to wait for the final go-ahead instructions of my boss, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola. But since he now said it’s time for us to move, no further waiting. So after wide consultations, we feel the time to move, can not be better than now. However, as a thorough party man, it behoves me to further brief you, my good people, as we prepare to formally rejoin the PDP on Wednesday, (18/3/20),at the ancient Mapo Hall, Ibadan, Oyo State ” Akinbade explained .
While appreciating them for their unalloyed and unflinching support all these years, the one-time SSG, implored them not to be deterred by the current state of things, assuring that the party would soon bounce back to reckoning.
Speaking at the occasion, a chieftain of the party in the state and former ALGON Chairman, Dr Lere Oyewumi, whose private visit to Akinbade coincided with the meeting, was in the company of Chief Kunle Alao, former Chief of Staff to Oyinlola, Mr Festus Adeyemo, and Jide Joda, described Oyinlola and Akinbade as politicians of note whose contributions to the development of Osun and Nigeria, were beyond rhetoric.
Oyewumi assured that they would be treated with utmost respect in the party, adding that their membership would further add value to the party in the state and the country as a whole.