The Ondo Street of a former Governor of Oyo State, Senator Rashidi Ladoja, in Bodija, Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, was a beehive of activities on Monday as two former Governors of Osun and Ondo States, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola and Olusegun Mimiko respectively, paid him separate visits as the crisis in the state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party unsettled permutations in Ladoja’s camp ahead of the 2019 elections.
While Oyinlola, an arrowhead of the African Democratic Congress, was with Ladoja as early as 9am, Mimiko, now a Labour Party member, came midway into their meeting and was asked to stay in one of the chalets pending the conclusion of discussions between Ladoja and Oyinlola.
At the parley Ladoja held with his visitors were three gubernatorial aspirants: Chief Sharafadeen Abiodun Alli, Senator Olufemi Lanlehin and Dr. Nureni Adeniran.
Others in the two meetings were the former State Chairman, Accord party, Alhaji Bashiru Lawal; a former Attorney General in the State, Bayo Lawal; and PDP chieftains such as Asiwaju Yemi Aderibigbe and Bimbo Adepoju.
Last week, the National Working Committee in Abuja harmonised the Oyo State PDP executives against the interest of Ladoja’s camp and the former reacted with a seven-day ultimatum within which the party should reverse the decision or they leave Oyo PDP.
The ultimatum lapses on Tuesday.
The leaders were not forthcoming when reporters sought to know what transpired as both Oyinlola and Mimiko said they were on private visits to their brother, Ladoja.
Their host equally rebuffed newsmen.
However, a source privy to the meetings confirmed that the former governors, being aware of the crisis in PDP, came to woo Ladoja to either ADC or Labour.
The meetings were not unconnected with the permutation of the major opposition parties in the South West ahead of the coming together of the 2019 general elections, said another source.
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