Shina Peller, a former member of the House of Representatives, and thousands of other members of the Accord Party in Oyo State’s Oyo North Senatorial District defected to the People’s Democratic Party on Thursday, the state’s ruling party.
The state governor, Seyi Makinde, who was accompanied by his deputy, Bayo Lawal, gave him a formal welcome in Ode-Oba, Iseyin, in the state’s Iseyin Local Government Area.
Peller left the All Progressives Congress in 2023 to obtain the Accord Party’s senatorial ticket for Oyo North. However, he was defeated by APC candidate Fatai Buhari.
Peller had been elected in 2019 under the party’s platform to represent the Iseyin/Itesiwaju/Iwajowa/Kajola Federal Constituency.
On the other hand, Peller credited Makinde’s decision to his model leadership abilities.
He said, “When I wanted to contest Senatorial in APC, they said we are too small but I thank God, today we are in the right party, a big party. If you look at Nigeria today, we are so endowed, but lack of leadership is our problem.
“Nigeria is endowed with both human and natural resources but these resources have failed to translate to reality. So, there is no leadership when there is no leader.
“Seyi is a visionary leader, that’s why I joined the party.
“I have seen the reason to align with the vision of Makinde. There is no leadership when there is no vision. And we have seen the good work Makinde has done in this zone, Oke-Ogun. It has never happened in the history of Oyo North Senatorial district.
“From Moniya to Iseyin; Oyo to Iseyin; Ogbomoso to Iseyin and so on. It has never happened before. So, if you have a visionary leader like him, you have to support him. That’s why we have decided to join Governor Makinde and the PDP to move the state forward.
“It is good to go to where you are valued. PDP has shown that they value us. Our father has been clamouring for a tertiary institution for the past 70 years, Makinde gave us an institution. What of infrastructural facilities? He gave us. So, I want to announce that thousands of Accord Party members in the 13 Local Governments made up of Oyo North Senatorial district are here. They are here to join PDP. Wards Chairmen; Local Government Chairmen; women leaders; and also Senatorial district chairman are all here to defect to the ruling PDP because of the visionary leader of Makinde. I want to appeal to other political parties to join us to move the state forward, and I pray that we will not regret it.
“Some people came and asked: Why do I want to join PDP? And I said, I need power to move forward, I need power to progress, that’s why I joined PDP,” he stressed.
Makinde, while handing over the flag of the PDP to Peller, said, “You will not regret joining the PDP. Now that Peller has joined this party, we must not hear another party in Iseyin in particular, or in Oke Ogun in general.
“I want to advise our PDP executives in local governments to cooperate with them. The ward chairmen and local government chairmen of our PDP should give them a chance to operate.
“You should accommodate them because the local government election is fast approaching, so we should all join hands together to make sure that we clear all 33 local governments in the state,” he urged.”
