Former Defence Minister denies reports of defection to APC

Following the report that former Minister of State for Defence, Senator Musliu Obanikoro had defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) on Tuesday, June 20, 2017, he has played down the rumours.

According to TVC News, the former gubernatorial candidate of the PDP announced his defection at a press conference in Lagos.

The rumours are believed to have started after he was spotted with the national leader of the APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.

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However, Obanikoro took to his Twitter handle (@MObanikoro) to deny the story, first tweeting, "As a Constituent of Lagos Central Senatorial District, I today attended Sen. Remi Tinubu's Townhall Meeting to support her good work."

He further explained that this was misrepresented, tweeting, "My attendance has been insinuated wrongly in the media but all such speculations remain firmly in the realm of rumours and imaginations."

He finally addressed his political future, tweeting, "I commend Sen. Remi Tinubu once again as I continue to consult with my political associates and friends in Lagos, and also across Nigeria."

In a final tweet, Obanikoro asked that rumours about his future be disregarded, "Whatever the future holds politically for us, it will be openly done by us and seen by all but right now, please disregard those rumours."

Obanikoro ran for the seat of Governor of Lagos under the umbrella of the PDP in 2007 but lost to current Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola.

He also lost the party primaries for the gubernatorial election in 2015 to Jimi Agbaje who lost to eventual winner Akinwunmi Ambode of the APC.

He served as the Minister of State for Defence under former President Goodluck Jonathan.