With less than three months before the 2023 general elections, the former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives and gubernatorial candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the July 2022 poll, Lasun Yusuf, has dumped the party and its presidential candidate Peter Obi to pitch his tent with the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP).
Yusuf’s defection to the PDP was one of the highlights of the party’s presidential rally held at the Osogbo township stadium, yesterday.
Amidst cheers from party faithful and supporters, the former Labour Party governorship candidate arrived at the rally around 2:40 p.m. and was received by the National Chairman of the PDP, Iyorchia Ayu in the company of the PDP Presidential Campaign Council chairman, Udom Emmanuel, and the party’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar.
The National Chairman of the PDP described the defection of Lasun as a homecoming.
His words: “I want to thank the Osun people, let’s forget about the past and reunite every great member of our party, this is the party of hope.”
Ayu said Lasun has pledged to campaign for and support the candidacy of Atiku.
“Lasun Yusuf is now Atikulate,” he added.
In his short remarks, Yusuf pledged his support for the PDP ahead of the 2023 elections.
Recall that Yusuf finished fifth in the Osun election with 2,729 votes. He was deputy speaker of the House of Representatives from 2015 to 2019 on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
He left the APC in March 2022 following his defeat in the governorship primary of the party, after which he defected to the Labour Party where he was given the ticket to contest the Osun governorship election.
