Ogun State governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, last night threatened to pull out of the All Progressives Congress (APC) if the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party fails to uphold the candidacy of his anointed governorship candidate, Abdul-Kabir Adekunle Akinlade.

This is coming a few hours after Governors Akinwunmi Ambode (Lagos), Rochas Okorocha (Imo), Umar Ganduje (Kano), Mohammed Abubakar (Bauchi) and Kashim Shettima (Borno) met with President Muhammadu Buhari to seek his intervention in the contentious primaries in the states.

Amosun issued this threat during a meeting with some party leaders and his loyalists across the 20 local government areas of the state held at his private residence located inside Ibara GRA, Abeokuta.

According to a source who was present at the meeting, the governor, who briefed his loyalists on the outcome of his meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari as well as the national leadership of APC, did not give any hint on the party he may join.

He further told our correspondent that Amosun informed them that rather than the NWC iron out the issue of the governorship, he was asked to share the national and state assemblies tickets with certain group of individuals, who, according to him, did not participate in both the governorship and legislative primaries.

The source added that the governor berated those he termed “Abuja connection APC” for standing rules of the primary election on its head and produced Abiodun as the party’s candidate instead of Akinlade, who emerged through a direct primary.

The Ogun governor, the source stated, made it clear that he could not work with Abiodun, who he said lacked the wherewithal to win a senatorial district, let alone the whole of Ogun State, insisting he would rather bid APC goodbye rather than accept his candidacy.

When told about a rumour making the rounds that the governor may likely defect to the Accord Party, the source insisted the governor was silent on the choice of the party, but made it clear that he would never defect to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

•Excerpted from Daily Sun report

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