The National Working Committee of the Accord Party has issued a directive that the name of a former Oyo State Governor, Rashidi Ladoja, be removed from the party membership list in the state.
The position of the NWC was made known in a communiqué signed by the Acting National Secretary of the party, Odo Ijere, after the meeting of some visiting NWC members at the Ibadan North-East/South secretariat of the party.
The development followed the defection of Ladoja, who was the Accord Party’s governorship candidate in the last election, to the Peoples Democratic Party, after a meeting he held with the Caretaker Committee chairman of the PDP, Ahmed Makarfi.
“The National Working Committee further directed that the name of Rashidi Ladoja be deregistered, deleted and struck out of the party’s register in Oyo State,” read the communiqué in part.
The visiting NWC members, who included Innocent Igbokwe and Abdulrahman Mohammed, were in Ibadan to discuss the way forward following the exit of Ladoja and his supporters.
According to Igbokwe, Ladoja’s exit is a blessing in disguise for the party.
The communiqué called on the party members to support the rebuilding process championed by the new South-West leader, Dr Doyin Okupe, and the Oyo State leader, Adebukola Ajaja, adding that Ijere had been appointed to replace Nureni Adisa as the party’s national secretary.