A chieftain of the People’s Democratic Party in Lagos State, Prince Lukman Ajose on Wednesday dumped the party for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Ajose, a former two-time Executive Chairman of Lagos Island Local Government Area, defected to the APC at a ceremony organised at the party secretariat in Ikeja.
The state Chairman of APC, Henry Ajomale, together with some elders in the party handed the party’s flag to Ajose and some of his supporters at the ceremony.
Speaking at the event, Ajose, who was once a member of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), said his joining the APC was like home-coming for him.
He said most of the principal actors in the APC were his political associates and that he was glad he was returning to their fold.
Ajose said he left the ACN for the PDP about 10 years ago because of some disagreements with Chief Bola Tinubu, a national leader of APC, but that he had now regretted his exit.
He added that all his political expectations were not met in the PDP and that he sees the APC as the only progressive party in Nigeria, hence his defection.
“I left the then ACN because of some issues, but I soon realised that what happened then was not as bad as what I experienced in the PDP. That was why I thought it is better to come back.
“I have been in the PDP and was in the ACN which has now transformed into APC, I can see the better party. Again, when I look around this gathering, most of the people I see here are people we started together even before the formation of AD.
“I am so glad I am reuniting with them with my teeming supporters today. This is where I belong,’’ he said.
He thanked Tinubu for facilitating his return to the party despite his altercations with him when he was in the PDP.
Ajose expressed surprise that Tinubu could still accommodate him in APC in spite of his verbal attacks on him when he was in the PDP, stressing that his defection to the APC would sound a death knell for the PDP in Lagos Island as he was a force to reckon with in the area.
Ajose promised that he would do all he could to improve the electoral chances of his new party in elections.
Speaking, Ajomale welcomed Ajose and his supporters to the party, describing his defection as a plus for the APC and urged the former council chairman to feel at home especially as he was part of the fold in the AD and ACN days.
The party chairman thanked Tinubu for being large-hearted enough to accommodate Ajose, describing the APC leader as a true politician.
“We welcome you to the APC and we thank Asiwaju Tinubu for making this happen, despite what happened between the two of you.
“You see, there is no permanent friend or enemy in politics. We are glad to have you in our party and we are sure you will add value to the party,” he said.
Ajomale said Tinubu would have been at the ceremony to receive Ajose but for last minute change in his personal schedule.
In his remarks, a chieftain of the APC, Tajudeen Olusi commended Ajose for retracing his steps back to the APC but counselled politicians to always be consistent in their political career, saying they would be doing a disservice to themselves by defecting frequently from one party to another.