A suspended member of the Ekiti State House of Assembly, Gboyega Aribisogan, and 200 others have joined the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The lawmaker representing Ikole Constituency, who has reportedly been at loggerheads with Governor Ayodele Fayose, defected to the APC on Tuesday with some members of the People Democratic Party (PDP) in the state.
Justifying his defection at Ward Seven in Ikole Local Government Area, Aribisogan blamed his action on the lingering factional crisis within the PDP which he said has made his stay in the party “extremely difficult.”
The embattled legislator was received into the party by the State APC Executive Council led by the deputy chairman, Mrs. Kemisola Olaleye.
He said he took the decision to join APC after due consultations with his constituents and pursuant to Section 109, Subsection 1(g) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999.
The Ekiti State PDP is polarised into two factions; the faction loyal to the National Chairman, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff which is chaired by Williams Ajayi, and the faction loyal to the National Caretaker Committee Chairman – led by Senator Ahmed Makarfi and enjoys Fayose’s support – which is chaired by Gboyega Oguntuase.
Aribisogan was suspended by the Assembly for 180 legislative days on October 6, 2016, for allegedly holding meetings with the Senator representing Ogun East in the National Assembly, Buruji Kashamu, and others perceived to be “political enemies” of Governor Fayose, an allegation he denied.
The Oguntuase-led faction had constituted a five-man disciplinary panel to try the lawmaker but he shunned the sitting of the panel, claiming that the panelists have been commissioned to do a ‘hatchet job’.
Addressing a crowd at the defection ceremony, the lawmaker said he joined the APC because the party has shown to Nigerians that it is capable of allowing freedom of speech, good governance and protection of the collective interest of all Nigerians.
“Democracy is all about good governance, service delivery, community and state interest. A situation where a political party like PDP is dangling precariously between survival and extinction could no longer provide an enabling political environment to provide good governance and political engineering.
“Therefore as a representative of my people, I have no option than to go along with them by moving to a party that will continue to protect their collective interest. I want to assure my supporters and my new political party of my absolute commitment and loyalty in pursuance of the party’s set objectives and goals. I pledge to be a true party man who will join hands with the progressives to remove him albatross called PDP from Ekiti State political space in the coming days,” he said.
