PDP VOWS TO WREST POWER AS FASAWE RETURNS

Chairman of the Ondo State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, Dr. Tayo Dairo, on Thursday said that the party had started strategising to ensure that it wrested power from the ruling Labour Party in the next governorship election in the state.

Dairo spoke at the state secretariat of the party in Akure, the state capital, while receiving one of the founding fathers of the party, Chief Oyewole Fasawe, back to the party.

The party chairman said that Fasawe's return and the imminent return of others in the next few weeks were signs that the party was being put on a better stead to get back to the state house.

He said, 'The love of the state is paramount in our hearts. That is why we are reaching out to those who have left us, especially those who have played significant roles in the party in the past.

'This is just the beginning. Many are still coming back. We shall leave our doors opened for all of them. This is called the re-union of old friends.'

Fasawe, a loyalist of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, returned to the party from the Action Congress, where he had earlier defected to.

He told journalists that since he could return to the party, other members who had left would also come back.

He said, 'We are back. PDP is our party. Even Governor Mimiko was with us in the PDP before we were driven away. If I can be reconciled to the party leaders, then others will come back.

'I am open to constructive criticism but I detest rudeness and I will not succumb to blackmail.'

Fasawe and Dairo later addressed a mammoth crowd of party faithful who besieged the state secretariat to welcome him.

Their speeches were interjected by songs rendered by excited female party members.