The Chairman, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governor’s Forum, Aminu Tambuwal has stated that he, alongside three other governors were in Ondo State to appeal to Olusegun Mimiko, a former governor of the state to return back to the party.
The Governors that visited Mimiko are Governor Nyesom Wike (Rivers), Governor Seyi Makinde (Oyo) and Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia).
They also had a discussion with Agboola Ajayi, the immediate past deputy governor in the state, who is the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) governorship candidate in the 2020 governorship election, his running mate, Gboye Adegbenro, and state Chairman of ZLP, Joseph Akinlaja.
The governors, on arrival at Ondo, held a closed-door meeting with Mimiko at his residence in Ondo Town.
Speaking with journalists after the meeting, Tambuwal said the visit was aimed at bringing people like Mimiko back to the party in order to rescue the country from its present challenges.
“We have had a robust engagement with him and we are very hopeful that we are going to hear something very positive from him soonest.
“Our message is simple, let’s come back and reposition the PDP and work toward rescuing Nigeria. The urgency of the matter is now.
“The essence is for rebuilding the party toward ensuring that PDP is back to power in 2023,” Tambuwal said.
In his reaction, Mimiko told journalists that he would consult with his political structures across the state before taking a final decision on his return to the PDP.
Mimiko said: “This is one of the series of interactions we had in the last two months and they have come, at least to convince us why we should come back to join forces with them in PDP.
“We have listened to them; we will go back to our stakeholders’ meeting, because it is them that will decide before we jointly take our decision on it,” he said.