TheCable

Henry Ajomale, chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos state, says the party is stepping up arrangements to welcome Musiliu Obanikoro, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Ajomale, who gave the hint in an interview with reporters in Ikeja, said Obanikoro was coming along with other bigwigs of the state’s PDP.

The party chairman said Obanikoro and others had reached out to the party to resolve their issues with it and all was set for their formal defection.

He said Wednesday’s defection of Lukman Ajose, a PDP bigwig, would open a floodgate of defections from the PDP to the APC in the coming days.

“We welcome Prince Ajose to the APC. His defection is a plus for us,” he said.

“But Ajose is not the only one joining us. Some of the bigwigs in the PDP, including Obanikoro, will be joining us soon.

“I don’t want to give you a particular date but all I can tell you is all is set.”

Ajomale said the coming of Ajose into the party, as well as other PDP members would add value to the party and enhance its electoral fortune.

He said their coming was particularly gladdening as the party was preparing for the council poll and making early preparations for the general election in 2019.

Asked if the mass movement of PDP members into the party would not weaken the opposition and make the state a one-party state, Ajomale answered in the negative.

He said since the PDP was not the only party in the opposition, it would be wrong to say the decimation of the party through defection would make the state a one-party state.

Ajomale described as false allegations in some quarters that the party was imposing candidates in some council areas ahead of the July elect ahead of the July election.

The chairman said those making the allegations were blackmailers who were not sure of themselves and their ability to win at the party primary.

“It is pure blackmail. There is nothing like that. Everybody will be allowed a level playing ground,” he said.

The Lagos State independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC) has fixed July 22 for the council election and July 29 for runoff.

Meanwhile, NAN quoted a source at the Lagos state house of assembly as saying one of the remaining two PDP members in the assembly had already indicated his intention to defect to the APC and his letter would likely be read at the next sitting of the lawmakers.

Six of the eight lawmakers who won their elections to the house on the platform of the PDP had earlier defected to the APC on February 16.