Former speaker of the house representatives, Dimeji Bankole on Thursday, September 4, 2014 had a meeting with Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leaders in what was apparently part of consultations for his rumoured Ogun state governorship aspiration in the 2015 election.
The meeting was held at the headquarters of the PDP in Ogun state at the presidential boulevard in Abeokuta, the Ogun state capital, with Bankole arriving in company of his loyalists.
The secretariat was adorned with Bankole’s posters, with his supporters singing and urging him to make his governorship ambitions public sooner rather than later.
Premium Times reports:
At the party headquarters, Mr. Bankole told the party officials that he came on a courtesy visit and to fashion ways of resolving the party’s prolonged crisis.
“I am a on a courtesy visit and not for governorship ambition. The purpose is unifying our party. I have come to report my own findings, I come to beg, to appeal. After diagnosis of what happened to us in 2007. Dimeji Bankole never takes any faction of PDP, last time I came to PDP secretariat was 2007.Today’s visit is about making sure we mend fences to give the opposition a good fight. I will continue to make such visits,” Mr. Bankole stated.
Mr. Bankole and party leaders engaged in another round of closed door meeting which lasted for over two hours.
He also explained the purpose of the unification drive, which was not only to bring all aggrieved members of the party back to the fold, but to as well give the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC good run for their money in the 2015 election.
“We are not the only party with issues, of course we’ve learnt our lessons in a very hard way especially with the result of the last election in 2011. We do not wish that to happen to us, that is why most of us are going round the state to make sure we reconcile as many members as possible and bring former party members into the PDP and that is what you see us doing,” he said.
“As we are uniting, as we are reconciling, we have much better chance than we did in 2011,” Bankole said.
At the end of the meeting, the former Speaker spoke to his teeming supporters, but kept mute over his rumoured governorship ambition. He asked them to start mobilizing towards the success of the party ahead of the general elections.
Speaking on the Permanent Voters Card distribution in the state, Mr. Bankole explained that the party was ready to mobilise the people to take part in the exercise.
Earlier in his speech, the party chairman, Dayo Bayo, explained that his executive members will provide a level playing ground to all the aspirants on the platform of the party.
He described Mr. Bankole as a prominent member of the party, though young, but has the potentials of an elder who can successfully lead the state.
He however advised Mr. Bankole to come up with a committee which will represent the interest of all groups within the party.
“I am going to be transparent and give all aspirants a play level field, when we are united, there is nothing we cannot do together for the greatness of ourselves, the party and the state at large,” he said.
