A member of the Ekiti House of Assembly, representing Ikole Constituency 1, Gboyega Aribisogan, who was suspended about nine months ago, for alleged anti-party activities, has dumped the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the platform on which he was elected.
Aribisogan has defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC), which is the opposition party in the state.
The lawmaker, who has been having running battle with the state governor, Ayodele Fayose, finally defected to the APC, yesterday, with about 200 other party members.
Speaking during his defection at Ward 7 in Ikole Local Government Area, Aribisogan said he took the decision because of the factionalisation and division of the state chapter of the PDP which, according to him, has made his stay in the party “extremely difficult.”
The lawmaker was received into the APC by the state APC executive council, led by the Deputy Chairman, Mrs. Kemisola Olaleye, who vowed to ensure that “all efforts to silence the opposition voice from Ekiti political space will be resisted because democracy allows for objective criticisms and separation of powers which is the principle of the rule of law.”
Aribisogan said he decided to join APC after due consultation with his constituents and pursuant to Section 109, sub-section 1(g) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999.
The legislator was suspended from the House for 180 legislative days, on October 6, 2016, for allegedly holding meetings with Senator Buruji Kashamu, who represents Ogun East senatorial district and others perceived to be “political enemies” of Fayose.
But, Aribisogan has denied the allegation.
Last week, the Oguntuase-led faction raised a five-man disciplinary panel to try Aribisogan but the lawmaker shunned the pane and claimed that “the panelists were commissioned to do a hatchet job.”
Addressing a crowd at the defection ceremony, Aribisogan said he joined the APC because the party has shown Nigerians that it is capable of allowing freedom of speech, good governance and protection of collective interest of all Nigerians.
“Democracy is all about good governance, service delivery, community and state interest.
“A situation where a political party like the PDP is dangling precariously, between survival and extinction, can no longer provide 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 absolute commitment and loyalty to the party’s set objectives and goals.
“I pledge to be a true party man and will join hands with the progressives, to remove PDP from Ekiti state political space in the coming days.”