By Henry Umoru  & Dayo Johnson

ABUJA—Leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Ondo State were yesterday thrown over board following the dissolution of the State Working Committee, SWC, over the furore trailing the defection of Governor Olusegun Mimiko.

They immediately went into a marathon meeting in Akure at which they took a decision to reject their dissolution by the national secretariat of the party.

A statement by the party’s Director of Publicity, Mr. Ayo Fadaka, in Akure, said: “We also declare our defiance of this action and as such will continue to recognize and relate only with our executives at every level.

“We received with shock the news of the dissolution of the executives of the party at every level in the state this afternoon. To say the least, this action is a clear intention by those we expect to safeguard the interest of the party to out rightly behead it.

“We also consider this action a disappointment, particularly in view of the fact that there is a subsisting court order barring the NWC from taking this sort of action. Therefore, we reject it and affirm our absolute confidence and support for the executives from the Ward to the state level.

“We want to remind Abuja that it is by choice that we are members of the Party and that the Party is not a prison yard where we are inmates that are bereft of liberties and fundamental rights.

“The prosecution of this action clearly and absolutely demonstrates that those who have elected on their own to serve the interest of Governor Mimiko as he decamps to our Party have clearly sowed a seed of discord that is most certain to germinate very quickly.

“We also call on the generality of members of the PDP in Ondo State to be firm and resolute in this period as we will collectively determine, shape and reorder our political destiny.”

However, to pre-empt the dissolution, a state chairman, Mr. Ebenizer Alabi and 18 party leaders, in an advert placed in some national newspapers, threatened that they would leave the party.

“If anything happens to the structures of the party without amicable resolution and agreement on the contending issues, it would take us less than 24 hours to leave the party and seek an alternative platform for our political aspirations,” they said.

A statement by National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, announced the dissolution of the Ondo exco and the constitution of a caretaker committee.

The statement reads: ”The National Working Committee, NWC, of the Peoples Democratic Party has announced the dissolution of the Ondo State Executive Committee of the party.

“By this announcement, all structures of the party at the ward, local government and state levels stand dissolved.

“Consequently, a caretaker committee has been constituted to pilot the affairs of the state chapter of the party. The committee has Mr. Dare Adeleke as Chairman and Mr. Dare Solomon Osawu as Secretary.

“We enjoin all members of our great party in Ondo State to continue to work together in harmony even as we are confident now, more than ever before, of our total domination of Ondo politics especially with the rejoining of our political family by the hardworking governor of Ondo State, Olusegun Mimiko.”