As husband defects to APC, Abuja Minister Akinjide vows to remain in PDP

Ms. Akinjide says she wants to help Jonathan succeed.

The Minister of State for the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Olajumoke Akinjide, has vowed to stick with the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and President Goodluck Jonathan, despite her husband’s defection to the All Progressives Congress, APC.

Mrs. Akinjide’s husband, Ahman Pategi, was one of the 37 ex-PDP members of the House of Representatives who defected to the APC on Wednesday.

Mr. Pategi, who was elected to the lower legislative chamber on the platform of the PDP, represents Edu/Moro/Pategi federal constituency of Kwara State. He is the Chairman of the House Committee on Water Resources.

Mrs. Akinjide, who hails from Ibadan in Oyo State, responded to a PREMIUM TIMES enquiry via a text message. She dismissed speculations that she was going to join her husband in the APC. She vowed to remain in the PDP to work for the success of the president, the Transformation Agenda, and the party at future polls.

The minister, who is the daughter of the Second Republic Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Richard Akinjide, added that her entire family dynasty remained loyal to the ruling party and the president.

“I’ll never ever leave the PDP,” she said. “The Akinjide family is loyal to the PDP and loyal to President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan. My father, Richard Akinjide is a founding member of the PDP and a member of the PDP Board of Trustees.”

“I am the arrowhead of the PDP in Oyo State as the minister in an opposition state. I will continue to work hard to ensure the success of Mr. President, the Transformation Agenda, and the success of the PDP at the polls in the 2015 elections.”

While presenting items to some PDP members in Ibadan earlier in the year, Mrs. Akinjide had asked the president to contest the 2015 presidential election.

The minister belongs to one of the several factions of the party in Oyo state. Reports say she and a former deputy governor of Oyo State, Taofeek Arapaja are leading one camp, while a former governor, Adebayo Alao- Akala, and former Senate Leader, Teslim Folarin, lead two other camps.