PDP Unites Ogunbiyi, Adeleke Ahead of Osun Poll

Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja

Ahead of the Osun State gubernatorial election scheduled for September 22, 2018, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has moved to put its house in order as it reconciles the runners up at the primary election in the state, Dr. Akin Ogunbiyi, and the party’s candidate, Senator Ademola Adeleke.

The Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, while speaking at the signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), said the reconciliation among the PDP stakeholders in the state was a show of unity within the party.

He said: “What just happened is the signing of MOU between not just the two aspirants of the Osun State gubernatorial primaries of PDP, but between all the PDP stakeholders in the state, especially between two state PDP gubernatorial primaries who a lot of people thought could not come together. Today what you saw was the unity of the PDP in Osun State.

“The two aspirants who contested in an intensive primary are now together finally, this will enable us to present a united party for the forthcoming election.

“We are very happy with what we have seen today; the credit goes to two of them, Adeleke, and more particularly, Ogunbiyi. Because we have all gone through election and we know what is like to lose an election, but he puts the party first and they have come together in the interest of the people in state and how to rescue them.”

On his part, Ogunbiyi said he was very delighted that a compromise could be reached in the interest of the people of the state and Nigeria at large.

He said he believed that Osun State must be taken in order for the people to be able to wrest power from the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2019, assuring them that PDP members are going to work together for the party’s victory in the gubernatorial election.

Meanwhile, Adeleke said he was happy that God has answered PDP’s prayer, saying: “For us, the PDP victory is assured, and by the grace of God, we are going to win the gubernatorial election on September 22.”

He commended the leadership of the PDP, especially the Senate president, and all the party leaders who organised the reconciliation meeting. “The electorate is waiting for us, I believe that they want us and this is what they have been waiting for, because after primary election, there should be reconciliation. And with this reconciliation, everybody is happy, the electorate is waiting for us, so victory is ours,” he said.