AFTER months of speculation, the member representing Ekiti Central Federal Constituency 1 in the House of Representatives, Mr. Michael Opeyemi Bamidele, has finally dumped the All Progressives Congress (APC) for Labour Party.Bamidele, who announced this on Sunday while addressing newsmen in Emure-Ekiti in Emure Local Government Area of Ekiti State after visiting the traditional ruler of the community and family members of those shot during a meeting of his supporters in the community, said he took the decision to join Labour Party “after due consultation among stakeholders including many of our community leaders and founding fathers of our dear state.”
Bamidele, who visited Mrs. Beatrice Ige, whom he alleged had 13 bullets removed from her buttocks; and the family of Mr. Folusho Ogundare, who was killed in the incident, announced that he could not “continue to wrestle for justice in the same boat where injustice has become institutionalised by those who, in spite of what they preach, have consistently demonstrated extreme allergy to internal democracy.”
He said: “I, in conjunction with many notable leaders and members of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in Ekiti State, have resolved to seek for membership of another progressive party with immediate effect rather than proceeding to register as new members of the All Progressives Congress.”
According to him, his action was not meant “to undermine the APC as a newly registered political party with progressive inclination,” but said “we have resolved to adopt, as our political platform, the Labour Party” which he described as a credible “progressive platform of convergence for our vision and commitment to internal democracy.”
He said he made the declaration in Emure as a mark of honour to the traditional ruler and the people, especially the late Ogundare, saying “our mission to Emure is to mourn the death of Ogundare; to warn those who want to make peaceful change impossible that no one is above the law, and in solidarity with the good people of Emure Ekiti, to stand on their soil and break the news that we are quitting the ranks of political desperadoes to embrace new political order that will take Ekiti to new heights.”
But the APC in reaction to the development, described it as “good riddance to bad rubbish,” saying “Ope has never been a member of APC, he was a member of ACN on which platform he was elected to the House of Representatives.”
The interim Chairman of APC in the state, Cheif Jide Awe, who reacted in a telephone interview, said: “We are comfortable more than ever with his exit. He has never made any positive contribution to the development of APC. We cannot feel his exit from the party. It is now left for his constituency to be proactive on his representation. A responsible and responsive representative must always seek the opinion of those he represents but in his own case, he acted and is still acting as if he is not the representative of the people.”
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