The All Progressives Congress (APC), Oyo State chapter, has berated Governor Seyi Makinde for denying to join the party through the back door.

The APC noted that despite the fact that there is free entry and free exit in party politics, yet the party cannot consider Makinde as an asset or good addition for what it called obvious reasons.

The Oyo APC, in a statement made available to newsmen by Olawale Sadare, Personal Assistant (Media), to the state APC Caretaker Committee Chairman, Chief Akin Oke, in Ibadan, said that Makinde’s victory in the 2019 gubernatorial election was due to “virtually all the gladiators involved in the unfortunate coalition arrangement.”

The Chief Press Secretary to Governor Makinde, Mr. Taiwo Adisa, had earlier accused the APC of luring the governor to defect from the People Democratic Party (PDP).

Adisa wrote that “The APC was merely covetous of the great feats achieved by Makinde as governor of Oyo State. The plot to lure Makinde to the APC did not come as a surprise. One is not surprised that some elements in the APC are busy debating the possibility of Governor Makinde’s defection to the party.

“So, the best thing the APC could come up with right now is to imagine a Makinde as a standard-bearer so he could serve as a surreptitious redemption for the years of locust the party had inflicted on the people of Oyo State.”

However, in its reaction, the All Progressives Congress replied that “Governor Makinde played the ostrich by denying apparent moves to join the APC through the back door. While we appreciate the fact that there is free entry and free exit in party politics, we are disappointed that a governor can turn a desperado in his bid to be an overlord in the entire political space in a state like Oyo.

“With what Governor Makinde has just done, genuine democrats and other stakeholders in the nation’s democratic environment have a good cause to renew their fear for the future of democracy and the rule of law.

“Available facts indicate that he (Makinde) had established contacts with a former governor from the Niger Delta region who now lives in Abuja.

“We must set the record straight that Oyo APC cannot consider him an asset or good addition for obvious reasons, with virtually all the gladiators involved in the unfortunate coalition arrangement which gave victory to the PDP in the 2019 gubernatorial election now in the APC after deserting him for tenable and justifiable reasons which revolve around insincerity, selfishness and undemocratic traits.

“The truth remains that Oyo APC would not need a character like Governor Makinde who still has a long way to go if he desires to emerge a strong, credible and popular political player during and after his four-year tenure.”