Former Oyo governor who supported PDP, Makinde in 2019 set to join APC

Senator Rasidi Ladoja, a former governor of Oyo state, is set to join the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) ahead of the 2023 general elections, Daily Trust has reported.

The newspaper stated the Ladoja and his supporters in Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) on Friday, February 12, initiated merger talks with the APC.

The meeting, which was held at the Premier Hotel, Mokla, Ibadan, was reportedly approved by Ladoja.

In 2019, the ZLP, under Ladoja's leadership aligned with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and other parties to elect the incumbent governor, Seyi Makinde.

Legit.ng gathers that Sharafadeen Alli, the governorship candidate of the ZLP in 2019, led a team of Ladoja's loyalists to the meeting while the acting chairman of the APC, Akin Oke, led the APC team.

One of the APC chieftains at the meeting, Wale Ohu, said there was nothing new about the gathering “because this is a season of consultations, party consultations."

2023: Ladoja visits Tinubu in Bourdillon

In what seems like a preparation for his speculated presidential ambition, the national leader of the APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, on Wednesday, December 9, 2020, played a host to Ladoja, in his Bourdillon home, Lagos.

Tinubu, who was an ex-governor of Lagos state, set tongues wagging by receiving notable Nigerians in his house.

Though the APC leader is yet to announce any interest in the race to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari, the train of visitors to Bourdillon makes people believe it may be about 2023 presidency.