The chairman of the Lagos State Chapter of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Hon. Moshood Salvador has dumped the opposition party for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Salvador, who expressed displeasure over the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party towards affairs of Lagos PDP, said former Deputy National Chairman of the party, Chief Bode George, is on a mission to destabilize the party in the state.
His words: “I am not happy to abandon the work I started because I began the journey with the full determination of winning Lagos, but when you are confronted with a leadership that doesn’t appreciate and encourage you, then you have to take your work to another place it would be appreciated.
“Today (yesterday), the Chairman of Board of Trustees (BOT) of PDP called me and I told him he should let me consult with the party members. The National Chairman of the party, Prince Uche Secondus, also called me today (yesterday) for the first time after my travail. He never called since I was put in jail, up till I came out two weeks ago; he was calling on Monday just to ask me why I want to leave.
“I told him it is not possible for me to be in the same party with Bode George. The national chairman of PDP should be more serious. We have over 8.5 million registered voters in Lagos State and yet they allow Bode George to destabilize the party.
“Bode George also cooked up things to put me in jail in the murder case of late Aborishade. Enough is enough. I am leaving the party with my supporters and I am taking them to APC, where they would be recognised and appreciated,” he said.
Speaking further, Salvador said: “I want the whole world to know that Bode George is the problem of PDP in Lagos. I have handed over to my deputy over a month ago. Immediately I was detained, I called my deputy and handed over to him. I wrote a letter to the national secretariat notifying the party that I’m handing over to my deputy.
“It’s not far fetching, in the last election, APC defeated PDP with about 100,000 votes, and that was why I mobilized heavily to beat the gap, PDP had 44.96 percent of the vote while APC had 51.96 percent. All the other parties put together had 1.08 percent.
I have to take my people to where they can get a life, where they can get jobs, and enjoy dividend of democracy, therefore we are going to APC.”
The embattled PDP chairman alongside 10 other party members was recently arrested and arraigned by the police on two charges of conspiracy and unlawful killing of the Apapa Local Government chairman of the party, Adeniyi Aborishade.
Aborishade was murdered on Saturday, July 21, during the PDP’s “visitation meeting” that held at Igbosuku Village, Eti-Osa Local Government Area. Salvador was final discharged based on advice by the Lagos State Director of Public Prosecution.
But, addressing the media earlier yesterday, Chief George; the party’s Board of Trustees (BoT) member, Dr. Remi Akitoye; former Lagos State deputy governor, Senator Kofoworola Bucknor-Akerele and wife of late Aborishade, Silifat, among others fingered Salvador in the death of Aborishade, calling on the Inspector General Police (IGP), Ibrahim Idris and the Attorney General of the Federation to probe Aborishade’s killing.
At the conference, with the title: “Who Killed My Husband? Aborishade’s wife cries out,” which took place in Ikoyi, where a video clip of what led to the killing of Aborishade was played, George said Nigeria is a society of law and order, adding that protecting lives of individuals must be sacrosanct else life would be short and brutish like Hobessian State of anarchy.
He said: “The family of Aborishade has justifiably internationalized this issue. The United Nations Human Rights Commission is being notified. The International Criminal Court at The Hague is equally being addressed to help keep a proper watch on the proceedings.
“This cannot continue. The rule of law is the very pivotal balance of the justice system. It is the primary anchor that holds democracy together. Alas, see what they did to a peacemaker! He was murdered by evil men with premeditated devilry in their hearts. In a cruel, horrible coincidence, Aborishade was murdered exactly 12 years after the Omoluabi Eko, Funsho Williams was equally murdered on July 26th, 2006. The killers of Williams are still unknown. But they can never hide forever. The law of karma may be slow, but sooner Justice always catches up. Who brought the thugs to the scene? Who took them away after the murderous evil?”
George, while saying that he agreed with the DPP that the police should continue their investigation to unearth the murderers of Aborishade, however, noted sadly that “the police in Lagos State Command is not the fit and proper organization to carry out any conclusive, unbiased investigation in this issue.”
He, therefore, called on Inspector General of Police and the Attorney General of the Federation to set up an impartial Special Investigation panel to probe into the circumstances and the culprits and their sponsors that killed Aborishade, even as noted that the family of the slain PDP chieftain had justifiably internationalized the issue.
Meanwhile, the Lagos State chapter of the party has described Salvador’s defection as good riddance to bad rubbish. The party described its former chairman as an unstable politician whose inordinate ambition and penchant for falsehood will soon be discovered by the APC.
While playing down the claim by Salvador that he left the PDP because of George, the party said: “Salvador is economical with the truth as Chief Bode George is rather his benefactor who once ‘made’ him a senatorial candidate and now state chairman.
“The problem with Salvador is that he is not a team player and too ambitious, interested in all opportunities. He will very soon show the APC he belongs to. We will not be demoralised by his defection. He has never been a winner for the party. We are likely to feel concerned if some names touted go with him but for Salvador, he is just a loudspeaker politician.”
