National Leader of All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu, on Saturday in Lagos formally welcomed former Minister of State for Defence, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro, to the party, expressing the belief that the return of Obanikoro to APC, alongside those who defected with him, would further strengthen the party in the state ahead 2019 elections.
Those who defected with Obanikoro, who was also former PDP governorship candidate in 2007 in Lagos State, include Chief (Mrs) Modupe Sasore, Chief Jide Damazio, Alhaji Kola Balogun, Mr Jide Ladeinde, a former Lagos PDP youth leader; Hon Kamal Olorunoje, Yinka Balogun, among others.
Tinubu, who was represented by leader of APC in the South West, Chief Pius Akinyelure, while recalling that most of the decampees formerly belonged to the progressives family before they left for PDP, said, “The coming back of Obanikoro and others to their former home where they belong would further strengthen the APC in the state.”
The former Lagos State governor, who expressed joy at the development, thanked various leaders and members for their contribution to the growth of APC in the state, urging them not to waver.
Speaking after receiving his new party flag at the event that took place at the Campos Square on Lagos Island and attended by Lagos APC chairman, Chief Henry Ajomale; Alhaji Kazim Imam, Cardinal James Odunmbaku; among others, Obanikoro equally acknowledged that his defection to APC alongside others was a return to their “natural habitat,” declaring that APC was his home.
Obanikoro, in his speech titled, “The Exigency of Time and the Dynamism of Politics,” while tracing his “political voyage,” which he claimed started from associating with those in the progressives camp, said he was proud to have learnt under Asiwaju Tinubu, declaring that the sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, was the greatest politician of all time while Tinubu remained the greatest politician of the moment.
