By TEMITOPE OGUNBANKE

The deal according to a reliable source will enable her run as a running mate to AC governorship candidate in the state, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN).

Hilda�s decision to quit the PDP may not be unconnected with the shoody handling of the PDP primary in Lagos in which she was seemingly denied victory. NewAge investigation revealed that Hilda who has vowed not to support Obanikoro and PDP in the April polls after the reconciliation meeting between her and Obanikoro at President Olusegun Obasanjo�s behest in Ota hit the rocks is now considering the offer of AC to run as a running mate to Fashola.

To underscore the likelihood of this development, the campaign manager of Hilda Williams, Dr. Tokunboh Pearse and others in Williams� Campaign Organisation (WILLCO) decamped to AC during a press conference yesterday at Regency Hall in Lagos.

Speaking during the event, Dr. Pearse said that he and some groups in WILLCO are crossing over to AC in order to take a stand for democracy.

�About three months after Funsho�s death, his wife Hilda Idowu Williams after much urging and numerous pledges of support for her candidacy from key PDP leaders agreed to take the mantle to actualize Funsho�s vision. Many people who have worked with Funsho for years saw in his spouse another opportunity to implement some of Funsho�s laudable programmes for Lagos State and participate in the body politic of their state.

�Indeed as the whole world know by now, Mrs. Williams was robbed in broad day light, of a primary election she had clearly won. We, the members of the Funsho Williams Organisation worked very hard to establish that victory, needless to say we felt hurt, abused and betrayed by the PDP leadership. But the brazen theft of Mrs. Williams electoral victory is only one in a series of atrocities committed against Funsho Williams as well as his political and biological family. What happened to Mrs. Williams on December 13, 2006, the shameless sabotage of her primary election success is for us the proverbial straw that broke the camel�s back,� he said.

Dr. Pearse in his address also said that �we will not remain in the Peoples Democratic Party and continue to be abused. This latest transgression against us will not stand. We are taking a stand for democracy. We reject the PDP�s practice of arbitrary rejection of election results. That practice is tantamount to a total disregard for the voice and the will of the people.

Pearse later urged all Lagosians to vote for Babatunde Fashola, describing him as the most credible candidate among all the contenders in the race to Alausa in the April polls.