BY OLA AJAYI
IBADAN—FORMER Governor of Oyo State, Senator Rashidi Ladoja has stated reasons why it would be difficult for him to return to the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, that he left before the April 2011 governorship elections.

Speaking with newsmen in his Bodija residence in Ibadan, he said he would not want to be in a political party where his hard work would not be appreciated.

He said that some chieftains of the party had made overtures to him to return to the PDP adding that among them was the Secretary General to the Southern forum, Chief Dejo Raimi.

Ladoja told newsmen that he pointedly told Raimi that PDP as a party hated Oyo State.

He said part of the hatred was shown in the portfolio given to the state despite the fact that it is the only state in the South West that produced representatives of the party at the National Assembly.

He said: “All that was my position when Chief Dejo Raimi came to meet me and they said you have a point. They have sent emissaries and I am still receiving emissaries from them. They want me back in the party but this would give me the opportunity of reviewing the relationship between PDP and Oyo State during the time PDP was in power. What triggered that one was the fact that today in South-West, PDP has got only six members, all of who came from Oyo State; a senator and five House of Representatives members.”

With the outcome of the election, he said one would have expected that the state would be compensated by the party.

“What do you expect? You would expect that to whom much is given much is expected. You would expect that of the seven ministers in the southwest, Oyo should be given a substantive Minister and not a Minister of State. But instead of that we got the smallest of all the ministers, the minister of state for capital territory,” he added.

This portfolio, as far as he is concerned is like a mini deputy governor and it is not acceptable to him especially when the biggest ministries went to Ogun state.

“Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Agriculture are one of the biggest ministries. Could it have been coincidental or could it have been intentional. Some may even be tempted to ask whether the former president is still in power.

Anything that you want to get he is the one is charge. Historically, it has always been like that. Remi Babalola for instance, was minister of state for Finance, then special duties which made him to resign because that one considered it as an insult, he said.

On his return to the PDP, he said, “This is the situation. We are at the level of saying is it necessary for me to go? I cannot be in a party where I would not enjoy the dividends of my work. There are fine gentlemen in PDP. We are blessed with people with dignity. Where did we derail?.

According to him, derailment started when the party did not elect Awoniyi as the chairman during the tenure of the former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo because Awoniyi would not have allowed himself to be used by Obasanjo.

This made Obasanjo to get Chief Barnabas Gemade in and removed him again putting Ahmadu Alli and so on and so forth. We have to find a way of redressing that trend and that is what I stand for”.