Olakunle Abegunde, the state chairman of the Action Democratic Party (ADP), announced his resignation from the party a few days after Idowu Afuye, the party’s deputy governorship candidate, left the party for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Ahead of the state’s June 18 governorship election, Abegunde, speaking to reporters in Ado-Ekiti on Tuesday, charged the party’s national leadership with flagrant wrongdoing and a lack of a clear vision for the ADP.
Dismissing the supposed letter from the national secretary announcing his suspension, he stated that he had dedicated his resources to ensuring the party’s stability in Ekiti since the party’s founding in 2017.
He said, “If the letter’s author wasn’t trying to be naughty, one would have expected him to mention one or two items belonging to the ADP in Ekiti State.” The party has no property in Ekiti, either in kind or cash. Since 2017, I have been covering the costs of the secretariat office; they do not own any real estate in the state.
“Normally, I wouldn’t have responded to the letter—which wasn’t intended for me—because it was incorrectly addressed to Adekunle Abegunde, which isn’t my name. But must I keep acting like puppets under these circumstances? Despite all of the money coming in to her from the state and other states of the union, the party has never given the state any naira.
“I would have resigned my membership about three months ago, considering the maladministration and intolerable shortcomings typifying the party leadership, but I realized that doing so might negatively affect the efforts of the party’s candidate in the upcoming election.”
However, I realized that doing so might have a bad impact on Mrs. Kemi Elebute-Halle, the party’s candidate, in the ballot scheduled for June 18. However, I officially declare that I drop and quit the ADP as of this hour today, as the national leadership has gone on radio to announce an unjustified suspension.
The charismatic and intelligent individuals who were there when I joined have long since read the writing on the wall and moved on. I can’t hold this cow much longer for nefarious people to milk.
The former chairman said he will confer with his close family and followers in each of the 16 local government districts to decide his next course of action before the election, but he would not disclose which party he would be joining.
Regarding the following stop, I’ll return home and confer with my loved ones and supporters; I’ll go in whichever direction they decide. I have achieved my major objectives in going to politics, ” he said.
