The Chairman, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governor’s Forum, Aminu Tambuwal, said he, along with three other governors, were in Ondo State to woo Olusegun Mimiko, a former governor of the state, back to the party.
Mr Tambuwal, the Sokoto State Governor led Governors Nyesom Wike (Rivers), Seyi Makinde (Oyo) and Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia) on the visit to meet Mr Mimiko.
They also had discussion with Agboola Ajayi, the immediate past deputy governor in the state, who is the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) governorship candidate in the 2020 governorship election, his running mate, Gboye Adegbenro, and state Chairman of ZLP, Joseph Akinlaja.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the governors had on arrival held a closed door meeting with Mimiko at his residence in Ondo Town.
Speaking with journalists after the meeting, Mr Tambuwal said that the visit was aimed at bringing like minds together to rescue the country from its current challenges.
According to him, the visit is on the directive of the party to embark on a trip to historic town of Ondo to woo Mr Mimiko back to his family.
“We have had a robust engagement with him and we are very hopeful that we are going to hear something very positive from him soonest.
“Our message is simple, let’s come back and reposition the PDP and work toward rescuing Nigeria. The urgency of the matter is now.
“The essence is for rebuilding the party toward ensuring that PDP is back to power in 2023,” Mr Tambuwal said.
Also, Mr Mimiko told journalists that he would consult with his political structures across the state before taking final decision on his return to the PDP.
Mr Mimiko said: “This is one of the series of interactions we had in the last two months and they have come, at least to convince us why we should come back to join forces with them in PDP.
“We have listened to them; we will go back to our stakeholders’ meeting, because it is them that will decide before we jointly take our decision on it,” he said.
Mr Mimiko had been a member of the Alliance for Democracy, PDP, Labour Party and Zenith Labour Party.
He had also served as health commissioner, secretary to the Ondo State Government, housing minister before becoming governor for eight years.
He failed in his bid to go to the Senate in 2019.
