A wave of panic is sweeping through the camps of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun State over Governor Ademola Adeleke’s reported plan to dump the PDP for the APC, Saturday PUNCH has reported.
Several of Adeleke’s close associates, including appointees, confirmed to the newspaper that the governor had nearly perfected the defection plan.
While the move has sent panic into the APC, with an anti-Adeleke protest staged on Friday, the governor, in a statement by his spokesman, Olawale Rasheed, denied nursing such a plan.
The defection rumour began in June when the governor visited President Bola Tinubu in his Bourdillon, Lagos home.
The governor was accompanied by his billionaire businessman brother, Dr. Adedeji Adeleke, and Afrobeat star nephew, Mr. David Adeleke (popularly known as Davido).
The meeting was revealed in an X post by President Tinubu’s Special Assistant on Social Media, Mr. Dada Olusegun.
Though Olusegun did not state the purpose of the visit, tension flared within both the state PDP and APC camps when photographs from the visit surfaced on social media, showing the President and his wife in close shots with the Adelekes.
After a brief lull, the defection rumour resurfaced during the week following a series of posts made by the governor’s aides on social media.
Insiders in the governor’s cabinet, including a commissioner and two special advisers said that Adeleke had concluded plans to join the APC.
The commissioner confided that Adeleke had briefed some of his allies in his cabinet and the House of Assembly about his defection plan.
‘Mr Governor will join the APC, but the official declaration will not be now. His planned defection is a result of political threats, the Federal Government withheld local government funds, and there are emerging threats to the businesses of his billionaire brother, Dr. Deji Adeleke. So, there are many things at stake’, he said.
A senior official of the APC in the state also confirmed that the governor was consulting with APC leaders, but said his fate hangs on Tinubu’s move.
‘Adeleke has been consulting many APC leaders. He has employed some mercenaries to lobby the President. But Baba Bisi Akande and Oyetola have not consented to his defection. The President will need to convince them before the governor will declare his defection’, the APC official said.
In a symbolic move, the state PDP Director of Media and Information, Mr. Oladele Bamiji, who is also a Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to Adeleke, posted “On Your Mandate”! on his Facebook timeline around 5 pm on Thursday.
The slogan is synonymous with President Tinubu, having originated from his loyalists in Lagos State.
Bamiji’s post triggered reactions from other Facebook users, including APC members kicking against the move.
One of the governor’s special advisers, who also spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter, said the governor’s apparent uncertainty over the validity of his second-term ticket in the face of the PDP crisis might have triggered his proposed defection.
‘INEC (Independent National Electoral Commission) has released the timetable for the 2026 governorship election, and the PDP primary is coming up in September. Who is going to sign Adeleke’s nomination form amid the ongoing crisis in the PDP?
‘We are all afraid that whatever happens in the PDP regarding the Osun election may be subject to litigation, which may invalidate the governor’s nomination and victory. That is why the governor wants to leave’, the aide said.
Also subtly confirming the move, another SSA to Adeleke, Mr. Olalekan Badmus tweeted on his X handle on Friday: ‘After we all agreed to this, the next question is where?
‘Governor Adeleke is currently consulting and evaluating all options on the table, including the peculiarities of all current political parties. Reports of imminent arrival at a particular party are at best speculative’.
Amid growing confirmation from the governor’s close associates, Saturday PUNCH gathered that President Tinubu’s Chief of Staff, Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, and members of the President’s immediate family reportedly facilitated Adeleke’s move to the APC.
Rasheed however insisted that Adeleke remains in the PDP and is not considering joining the APC.
In a statement on Thursday, the governor’s spokesperson quoted his boss as saying: ‘I assure the good people of Osun that I remain part and parcel of the PDP family. I am not defecting to any party’.
He said the governor reaffirmed his commitment to the implementation of his administration’s five-point agenda and urged the public to disregard what he described as ‘fake news’, while assuring continued delivery of good governance and democratic dividends.
Also reacting, the National Secretary of the APC, Senator Ajibola Basiru said the party’s national secretariat was unaware of any defection plan by the governor.
Basiru said: ‘The only thing I can say is that I’m not aware of Adeleke’s so-called planned defection as the National Secretary of the party. All other things are hypothetical for now. I cannot be reacting based on social media frenzy’!
Similarly, the spokesperson for the state APC, Chief Kola Olabisi said that the party leadership in the state had no knowledge of any move by Adeleke to join their ranks.
‘It is still in the realm of speculation. The leadership of the APC in Osun, led by Sooko Tajudeen Lawal, is not aware of the governor’s defection plan he said.
When asked whether the party would welcome Adeleke, Olabisi replied, ‘Only the leadership of the party will speak on that’.
Despite official denials, there is palpable tension among members of both the APC and PDP in Osun State.
Saturday PUNCH gathered that the development has unsettled many APC members, particularly loyalists of former Governor Gboyega Oyetola, who fear that Adeleke’s entry into the APC could jeopardise the chances of their governorship aspirant, Chief Bola Oyebamiji.
On the PDP side, some members have also expressed concern that the party might suffer significant setbacks if Adeleke defects, as the Adeleke dynasty is regarded as the party’s primary financier in the state.
