Mr. Muslihudeen Adekilekun, a senior member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun, announced on Saturday that he had defected to the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP).
Adekilekun stated this at a press conference in Ede town, adding that he departed due to the party’s leadership’s alleged imposition of candidates.
“I went to the party leadership yesterday (Friday) to announce my resignation.
“I came from Olubokun Ward 4 Unit 9, Ede North Local Government, where I handed in my resignation letter one hour before the party’s weekly general meeting.”
“The party has never held a primary election since I became a member of the APC,” he remarked. He claimed that the leadership of the party had always forced its favoured candidates.
Adekilekun said the imposition of candidates had always denied him the opportunity to represent the people in his constituency, even after obtaining nomination forms.
“Since I began my aspiration to represent the good people of Ede Federal Constituency at the National Assembly in 2011, the APC has never conducted primaries to choose candidates, as demanded by the Constitution.
“Instead of conducting a primary election, the party leaders prefer to impose their anointed candidate on others in the name of consensus.
“In spite of this injustice, I have never questioned the decision of the leaders each time they imposed their preferred candidates on us and it is on record that I have always supported the candidates with all I had.
“The irony of my loyalty to the party is that, in spite of all my immense contributions to the growth and victories of the progressive fold, I have never enjoyed the dividend of my toils,” he said.
Adekilekun said he and his supporters, have moved their structures from APC to NNPP, after realising that the APC leadership in Ede has been an obstacle on their way to their political destination.
Adekilekun said he would be vying for Ede Federal Constituency seat of the House of Representatives on the platform of NNPP.