The immediate past Chief of Staff to the Ogun State
Government, Chief Tolu Odebiyi, has adduced his resignation from the cabinet of
Governor Ibikunle Amosun to his refusal to be seen as a mole following his
insistence to stay put within the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state.
Odebiyi, in an exclusive chat with select journalists
at his Iboro country home in Yewa North Local Government Area of the state
on Monday disclosed that he chose to pull out of the cabinet, "though a
painful decision to go a separate way with Amosun, it has become a honest
decision.
"I decided to quit the cabinet of Amosun because
I don't want to be seen as a mole. I don’t have any personal grouse with him. I
have respect for the office and I have learnt a lot from him while working in
his government.The main reason for going separate ways with Amosun was when the
issue of going to a new party came up. Because the preferred governorship
candidate of Amosun was not recognised by the National Working Committee (NWC)
of the party, he decided to move to another party, but I refuse to move with
him.”
According to the erstwhile Chief of Staff, who is
Ogun West senatorial candidate in the 2019 general elections, he declined to
leave the party when he was advised by his former principal to dissolve into
the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) to actualise his senatorial seat ambition but
insisted to remain loyal to the APC.
"When Amosun mooted the idea of moving to APM
to me, he asked me to think over it and get back to him. When I consulted my
people at Ogun West over it and they were all averse to the idea. I reported
back to Amosun the decision of my people, and it was not well received by him.
But I told him I had to be mindful of my late father, late Senator Jonathan
Odebiyi, legacy because he was a true democrat and progressive. As a result,
the APC tenets take after the past progressive parties like Action Group (AG),
Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN), Alliance for Democracy (AD) and Action Congress
(AC), so they are like family parties.
"Turning my back at the APC would amount to
turning my back at my people in Ogun West.
"My loyalty to the party and my commitment to
ensuring President Muhammadu Buhari is re-elected remain steadfast
"I don't like switching political parties
because I respect party's supremacy. Also, my political pedigree has to be
maintained. I stay put in a party and help to build it. My stay is critical to
the development of the party. I feel it a sense of responsibility to my
followers and members.
"So, I declined to leave the APC because I still
maintain my loyalty to it,” Odebiyi said.
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