Former Governor of Ondo State, Dr Olusegun Mimiko has distanced himself from membership of the 2023 presidential campaign council of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), reaffirming his position that the party must embrace regional equity.
Mimiko has aligned with the group, led by Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike, which has been battling the PDP for having both its National Chairman, Dr Iyorchia Ayu and presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar from the North.
Several attempts to bring the group back into the fold have failed with their members refusing to participate in the ongoing presidential campaign.
In a statement on Wednesday by his spokesman, John Paul Akinduro, Mimiko said that he was not consulted, nor did he accept to serve on the presidential campaign council.
The statement, which is titled, ‘On Ondo PDP List’, reads: “Dr Olusegun Mimiko has been inundated with calls and messages from the general public, and his political friends and concerned individuals around the nation; and in particular, his teeming supporters across the length and breadth of Ondo State, seeking clarity on a fake news making the rounds since yesterday that he had ditched Governors Nyesom Wike, Seyi Makinde and their colleagues governors, and abandoned the agitation for regional equity within the PDP; and in particular, making a party member of southern extraction its the national chairman before the 2023 election.
“The report and the list that triggered it, are fake and a deliberate attempt to muddle things up and smear Dr. Olusegun Mimiko.
“It must be stated with emphasis that Dr. Mimiko was neither consulted by anyone nor consented to his inclusion in any Ondo state PDP Presidential Campaign Council list.
“For the avoidance of doubt and to set the record straight, Dr Mimiko is unwavering in his commitment to the principle of equity, fairness and justice through which he believes a credible push for a PDP victory is possible. He fully subscribes to the agitation by his colleagues and other stakeholders in PDP and the generality of Nigerians that the PDP structure must reflect Nigeria’s diversity, if it genuinely wants to unify a visibly divided country”.
