THE Kwara State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has identified alleged heavy presence of moles within its fold as the strongest reason for its electoral defeat to the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the last general elections in the state.

Speaking on the development for the first time yesterday in a chat with The Guardian in Ilorin, the PDP chairman, Chief Iyiola Oyedepo believed that "many APC members in PDP attires" subtly managed the affairs of "our party in the state" before and during the polls.

According to Oyedepo, "We realised rather too late the presence of many APC members sent to us by the party to destabilise the PDP in Kwara. These people thwarted all our efforts at succeeding. We have learnt our lessons from these elements."

But in a swift reaction to the development, Publicity Secretary of the APC in Kwara, Alhaji Sulyman Buhari described the chairman's statement as evidence that the PDP was yet to recover from its post-election trauma.

Buhari said, "For a party in Kwara State that contested for 35 political offices including the Presidency ?in the last general election and lost out on all without any substantial votes and supports from Kwarans in an apparent display of unpopularity and unacceptability, the PDP should be undergoing post-mortem rather than giving flimsy excuses.

Buhari said, "The leadership of the PDP ?should be reminded and cautioned that it has again adopted the same modus operandi of raising false alarm, making inciting statements and instigating the people against the government they freely elected which led to its humiliating defeat in the 2015 general election. The name PDP has become toxic to our people, a reality Oyedepo and co have to face."

Oyedepo added: "We are not going to be emotional about the so called victory of the APC in Kwara. But we are assuring our people of the fact that we have a credible network to move them to the next level of their lives.

"We are watching the APC members and leaders, we want to see how far they can match their words with action. The people of the state should take note of all their actions and inaction."

Reacting to the defection of some members of the PDP to APC in Kwara, Oyedepo, who was a former Chief Whip of the state's House of Assembly in the fourth Republic, said: "These are the people who can’t hold their stomachs for a while thinking that there is food in the APC; they will soon realise that they are simply day dreaming."