Ladoja’s exit won’t stop Oyo ADC from winning 2019 poll, says Lanlehin

The exit of former Oyo State Governor Rashidi Ladoja from the African Democratic Congress (ADC) will not stop the party from winning next year’s governorship election, Senator Olufemi Lanlehin said yesterday.

Lanlehin, who is the party’s governorship candidate, addressed reporters for the first time after the exit of his leader, Ladoja, from ADC to Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) a fortnight ago.

Ladoja dumped ADC for ZLP on claims that members of the Unity Forum, which broke away from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to ADC, were imposing candidates on the party.

The former governor had supported Lanlehin to become ADC’s governorship candidate but left him behind.

He said the ADC candidate refused to see reasons why they needed to leave the party for members of the Unity Forum.

Read also: ‘How I survived breast cancer’

Lanlehin defected from the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) as a serving senator to join Ladoja in Accord (A) party in 2014.

He moved with the former governor to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) last year and to ADC in May.

The ADC governorship candidate assured the party faithful that he would defeat the APC candidate, Adebayo Adelabu, in the next year election.

He added: “The struggle to unseat this government is certain. That is the government that must be sent out. And by the grace of God, it will be achieved.”

Lanlehin, who represented Oyo South between 2011 and 2015, said it was certain that Governor Abiola Ajimobi’s tenure will end on May 29, next year, and anyone who wants to continue with his “legacy” would not be accepted by the people of the state.