Former Governor Ladoja returns to PDP

Former Oyo State Governor, Rashidi Ladoja, has returned to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), after defecting to the Accord Party to contest the state’s governorship position during the 2015 general elections.

Ladoja returned to the PDP on Thursday in Ibadan, when Sen. Ahmed Makarfi, Chairman of the PDP National Caretaker Committee, visited the Oyo state capital as part of the on-going reconciliation efforts by the party.

The former governor, who contested and won on the platform of the PDP in 2011, said that he was returning to his home, adding that he left initially due to perceived injustice.

“When I left the PDP some years ago, it was because of the injustice done to me.

“We left because the PDP leaders, at that time, were not ready to protect the interest of all members. We are back now because the new leadership has promised to right all wrongs and avoid mistakes of the past.

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“I have discussed with members of the Accord party and they have asked for amnesty; we need assurance from Makarfi that Accord Party members will be given equal treatment and a level playing ground,” Ladoja stated

In his response, Makarfi said that he came to Ladoja so they could once again, work together as a family.

“We want you to return to your great beginning; we want to start all over again as one family,” he said.

Makarfi expressed belief that Ladoja’s presence would add value to the PDP in Oyo State, waving away Ladoja’s amnesty plea, claiming he had committed no crime to warrant a plea for amnesty.

He implored PDP members to forget the past and work toward party unity, and assured Ladoja and new PDP members of equal opportunity for all.

Recall that following the supreme court ruling that settled the leadership crisis rocking the party, its leadership had vowed to do everything within its capacity to bring back all its members who defected to other parties while the crisis lingered.