A former Chairman of Ekiti Local Government Area of Kwara State, Ayeni Yinka Dallas, today clarified that he was not pressured to defect to the All Progressives Congress (APC) as being insinuated in some quarters.
At a press conference held in Ilorin on Thursday, the Kwara state capital, Dallas said he voluntarily joined the ruling party from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), having seen the sincere efforts of the present administration to move the state forward.
Flanked by his counterpart in Isin and Ifelodun local government areas, Omole and Abdulfatai Labaka respectively, Dallas explained that he had defected to the APC since June 2020 in his ward contrary to the belief that he was coerced to do so.
He maintained that he chose to queue behind Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq after dissecting the activities of his government with respect to pro-masses policies and programmes.
He added that the demystification of governance and prioritization of infrastructural turnaround of the good people of Ekiti local government area prompted him.
“My trajectory and life journey thus far have seen me taking on clearly thought out actions and inactions, which doesn’t necessarily have to fall into the projections of all, and on that note, I understand and appreciate the divergent opinions.
“I have been a Comrade all my life. I have lived a life that has always demanded making hard and often controversial decisions. I am a complete product of struggle. My Secondary and Tertiary Education and even post education life have all been dedicated to humanitarian struggle, selfless service and championing collective goal.
“Consequently, it is not part of my personality traits to succumb to undue pressure or coercion to do whatever I am not convinced within myself is right to do. This is evident at the first instance of defection of my colleagues from other local governments to the APC.
“It is therefore preposterous to posit that I, Comrade Yinka Dallas was forced to defect to the APC under the able leadership of Gov. Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq.
“I am too pragmatic to be forced into any decision. No thoroughbred Comrade can be forced, blackmailed or cajoled to do what he is not truly or progressively convinced about, except relying on independently verifiable parameters”, Dallas said.
The former chairman, who was elected on the platform of PDP in 2017, praised the state government for various infrastructural projects in Ekiti, appealed for timely completion of the Ekiti Campus of the Kwara State University.
He noted that the project occupies a vintage place in the heart of sons and daughters of Ekiti-Kwara.
When asked whether his defection had a link with 2023 general elections, Dallas said he does not nurse any ambition at the moment.
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