Obasanjo in Ibadan to woo Ladoja back to PDP

THE  Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday dispatched  its chieftains to the Ibadan home of former Oyo State Governor Rashidi Ladoja to lure him back into its fold.

Chairman of the PDP Board of Trustees (BoT) former President Olusegun Obasanjo led the delegation.
Ladoja  dumped the PDP and formed Accord, the platform on which he contested the last governorship election against his erstwhile deputy, Chief Adebayo Alao-Akala.
Ladoja’s Bodija home in  Ibadan has in the recent past hosted politicians from various parties who have tried to lure the former governor to their side.
Arriving to a tumultuous welcome from hundreds of Ladoja’s and PDP supporters, a smiling Obasanjo immediately requested for lunch at Ladoja’s home.
Details of the 45-minute parley between the Owu  chief and Ladoja, held behind closed-door, were not disclosed.
But a source close to Ladoja said the former President was in  Ibadan to assure Ladoja that all obstacles against his return were being removed and that he has nothing to fear.
Dressed in a multi-colour attire made of Kampala and a matching cap, Obasanjo told reporters, whospoke with him that “it was circumstances that made crayfish to bend”, and that “it  can be straightened again at any time.”
He was accompanied by former Deputy Governor Taofeek Arapaja; former Secretary to the State Government (SSG) Chief Olayiwola Olakojo; former Commissioner for Environment Alhaji Mukaila Aborode; and some other leaders of the faction led by Arapaja and Federal Capital Territiry (FCT) Minister of State Chief Jumoke Akinjide.
Ladoja said negotiation between the Accord and the PDP is ongoing and  there may be a merger of both parties.
The attempts to bring Ladoja back into the PDP has widened the gulf between factional leaders of the party.
The Alao-Akala faction is not favourably disposed to Ladoja’s return to the PDP.
The thinking in the party is that Ladoja’s return would   increase the chances of the PDP in the 2015 election.
Five years ago, Obasanjo shunned entreaties to save Ladoja from being impeached by the House of Assembly.
Obasanjo, who was on a visit to Ibadan on January 11, 2006, spurned the appeal of  the late elder statesman, Chief Emmanuel Alayande, and other to save Ladoja.
He was in Ibadan to congratulate Alayande on his birthday.
Source