I remain in APC, disregard defection rumour – Ogun lawmaker

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speaks on meeting with Amosun*

A former Deputy Speaker of Ogun State House of Assembly, Hon. Dare Kadiri, has debunked speculation that he had dumped the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and defected to the opposition African Democratic Congress (ADC) ahead of 2023 elections.

Kadiri, representing Ijebu North II State Constituency, declared that he has no plan to leave the APC despite his differences with some chieftains in the party.

The lawmaker had recently said he will not support the re-election bid of Governor Dapo Abiodun in 2023, saying a lot of party members were currently disgruntled and disaffected by the governor’s leadership style.

He also recently hosted the state Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate, Hon. Oladipupo Adebutu, in Ago-Iwoye, where he promised to partner with any candidate among opposition parties that is sincerely prepared to engender good governance and accommodate the collective interests of his constituents.

Speaking in a telephone interview with our correspondent yesterday, Kadiri said he did not defect from the APC as being insinuated in some quarters.

“I have been inundated with calls that I have defected to the ADC. It is not true. The fact of the case is that I remained a member of the All Progressives Congress notwithstanding my differences with some people in the party. I am a state legislator and I know the procedure of defection,” he stated.

Kadiri noted that the defection rumour heightened following his meeting with the immediate past governor of the state, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, in Abeokuta on Monday.

He said, “I have not decamped to any party and I’m not even thinking of decamping. I don’t know where the rumour is coming from but I could say it probably emanated from my meeting with Governor Amosun yesterday (Monday).

“I was in Senator Amosun’s house. He invited me for a heart to heart talk. We’ve not been at loggerheads but we have not been talking for more than three years now. I respect him as our leaders and my mentor we discussed about the situation of things in our state.

“I realised that there were different people at his house. It’s not about APC, PDP or ADC Amosun is a statesman and it’s expected that all manner of people would be visiting his residence for one reason or another. So, if I was spotted there, does that mean I have decamped?”

Asked about alleged plot to suspend him on the floor of the House over alleged anti-party activities, Kadiri said he was not aware of such plot.

The lawmaker maintained that party matters were different from legislative matters, adding that he was confident the House leadership would not dabble into flimsy and extraneous issues.

His words: “When it comes to legislative matters, the Speaker, Rt. Hon. Olakunle Oluomo, is a very experienced legislator and I’ve worked closely with him. We might have our differences but I know he is conversant with the constitutional processes.

“Talking about suspension, we have lawmakers that have decamped from APM to APC and they were not suspended. PDP, ADC and APM lawmakers in the House also decamped to APC, were they suspended? So, there is nothing about slamming suspension on anybody for decamping it is very petit and unconstitutional

Kadiri, who claimed that many APC members were dissatisfied with the situation of things in the party, said some of the aggrieved were exploring their options, some of my followers even decamped.

He noted that the poor treatment allegedly meted out to some APC members in his constituency may make them to be non-committal to the party in next year’s elections.

The lawmaker, who stated that “everybody has a right to exercise his political affiliation,” alleged that a lot of his supporters within the party were being victimized.

“A lot of my supporters are being victimized back home, especially those in the transport section. To me, it’s unfair. But if that is the way they want to play their politics, the ball is in their court,” Kadiri said.

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