The Lagos State Chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has declared it is unbothered by Monday's defection of several party leaders to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Lagos PDP Vice Chairman for the Central Senatorial District, Hakeem Olalemi, made this assertion during an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Tuesday, dismissing concerns about the party's stability following the high-profile exits.
"We Won't Miss Them" - PDP Vice Chairman
"All the people who left had been inactive in the party in the past two years; we are not going to miss them at all," Olalemi stated firmly. "The party has since moved on. We are moving on without them. These people showed long ago they were not PDP members, again, they are Jandor's people, and we have always known that they are APC."
Olalemi further emphasized the party's indifference to the defections, saying, "In Lagos PDP, we have long forgotten them. They had not been part of us for over two years. When last did you hear them defend PDP in Lagos State before their defection? It (their defection) is not news to us in the Lagos PDP, we know they left since. We are not bothered a bit."
Notable Defectors to APC
BenriNews reports that among those who announced their resignation from the PDP on Monday was the State Publicity Secretary, Hakeem Amode. Other prominent defectors included Alhaja Safurat Abdulkareem, a two-time PDP deputy governorship candidate in Lagos, and former Lagos PDP deputy chairman, Chief Ola Apena.
The list of defectors also featured Prince Rufus Adeniyi, a former PDP Assistant State Organising Secretary for Lagos West, and Mr. Jerry Afemikhe (Olori Odo), who previously contested as a PDP House of Representatives candidate in Surulere Constituency I.
Several 2023 PDP Lagos State House of Assembly candidates also jumped ship, including Messrs Keshinro Abiodun (Epe 1), Akeem Jinadu (Eti-Osa 1), Ibrahim Balogun (Kosofe 2), Taofeek Obanikoro (Lagos Island 1), Tunde Pratt (Lagos Mainland 2), Saheed Aregbesola (Oshodi-Isolo State 2), Sulaimon Thompson (Surulere 1), and Taofeek Kuye (Ajeromi-Ifelodun State 1).
The mass defection comes at a time when political realignments are intensifying ahead of future electoral contests in Lagos State, Nigeria's commercial hub.
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