18th November, 2010
As the People’s Democratic Party, PDP’s hold on Oyo State slips further, a chieftain of the party, Chief Oyebisi Ilaka, has defected to the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN).
Speaking with newsmen in Ibadan, Ilaka said he decided to leave for the ACN because the PDP in Oyo State is in serious crisis and bereft of ideas and vision.
Painting a picture of the PDP in the state, the erstwhile PDP chieftain said: “All I see is a group of self serving kleptomaniacs whose personal interests remain paramount. The party has been hijacked by people who do not have any notion of service and they are not ready to take advice from well-meaning individuals.â€
“I’m looking at ACN as a party that represents the best vehicle for me to achieve my aspiration and serve my people. I have already joined the ACN. I’ve registered and I am a card-carrying member of the party,†Ilaka said, adding that the ACN had been talking to him for the past five years and he’s quite familiar with many of the members.
“My mother was a member of the Alliance for Democracy, AD. From AD, she moved to the Action Congress and now she is a member of ACN. They usually hold their meetings in my house. Most of their aspirants are my friends and this is not only in Oyo State but also across the southwest.
“The process of decision making in the ACN is quite different from that of the PDP. They usually hold meetings upon meetings before taking their decisions and whenever they reach a decision, it is usually an informed one,†he added.
Asked why he joined the PDP in the first place, Ilaka said since his father died on June 12, 1993, he has been going to Oyo town on a regular basis to celebrate his life. That led him to establish a foundation through which he started doing some charitable works like giving scholarships, grants and providing boreholes for the residents. “Later, my ‘father’, the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi III invited me and told me the community will like me to come back home and be of service to them. I then joined the PDP because I felt we are moving to a different kind of politics which is broad based and all accommodating,†he said.