A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr. Jimoh Ibrahim, has assured that the crisis rocking the state chapter of the party will soon be over and that no aggrieved member of the party would defect to other parties.

Ibrahim, who hails from Ondo and is a pillar of PDP in the state, made the remarks while speaking with journalists at the end of the closed-door reconciliatory meeting of leaders of the party to resolve the crisis. The meeting took place at the residence of an elder of the party, Pa Agboola Akintan, in Idanre, Idanre Local Government Area of the state, at the weekend.

According to him, the issues about the planned defection of some aggrieved members and the forthcoming re-election of President Goodluck Jonathan were discussed at the meeting.

He said: “What is paramount in our minds is President Jonathan’s election. We want the President to win in Ondo State convincingly. That assignment is between me and the governor, and we cannot negotiate Jonathan’s election.

“Nobody will decamp to another party. The situation has not reached a point where we will be talking of defection. We will talk to our followers about that.”

He also noted that the peace meeting has not been concluded yet, but he refuted report of a breakdown of negotiations, saying the discussions about the integration of new and old members and the sharing of elective positions were ongoing.

On cases pending in the law court over dissolution of the State Executive Council (SEC), the billionaire businessman explained that there were issues to be resolved before the cases could be withdrawn.

Some of the party leaders who attended the over eight-hour meeting besides Dr Jimoh Ibrahim, included Governor Olusegun Mimiko, Prof Olu Agbi, Chief Segun Adegoke, Olusola Agbesua, Princess Oladuni Odu, Chief Samuel Akintan and Dr Kola Ademujimi, among others.

•Adapted from Newswatch Times. Photo shows Jimoh Ibrahim.