2027: “How Osun Gov Secretly Attempted to Defect but Was Denied Automatic Ticket,” APC Speaks

• The Osun state APC has alleged that Governor Ademola Adeleke misled the PDP stakeholders by denying any intention to defect to the APC, despite alleged failed efforts to do so
• According to the APC, Governor Adeleke’s defection bid failed after he was told he would not receive an automatic governorship ticket, contrary to his expectations ahead of the 2027
• In an interesting twist, Adeleke’s spokesperson refuted the APC’s allegations and claimed that the governor’s strong performance makes defection unnecessary

Legit.ng journalist Esther Odili has over two years of experience covering political parties and movements

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has berated Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun state for allegedly lying to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)'s stakeholders that he did not intend to defect to the ruling party now or in the future.

The Osun state chapter of the APC, in a statement signed by its director of media and information Kola Olabisi on Sunday, May 5, disclosed that Adeleke ought to have been truthful by telling the stakeholders that his attempts to move to the APC failed.

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Governor Adeleke finally reveals where he stands amid PDP-APC defection talk

Legit.ng reported that Governor Ademola Adeleke reaffirmed his loyalty to the PDP, shutting down rumours of an impending defection.

At a stakeholders' forum in Osogbo, top PDP leaders endorsed Adeleke for a second term and praised his administration’s performance.

Adeleke's secret defection bid failed - Osun APC

According to him, one wonders why Governor Adeleke could not be truthful for once by confessing to the state PDP stakeholders that his desperate attempts to defect into the potent opposition APC were unsuccessful.

As reported by Vanguard, the stakeholders comprises former state Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola, Dr Olu Alabi, Professor Wale Oladipo, Hon Akanni Olohunwa, Mr Sunday Bisi, and Rt. Hon. Adewale Egbedun, Rt. Hon Lasun Yusuf, among others.

"We wonder why Governor Adeleke failed to reveal to the PDP stakeholders that the condition given to him by the leadership of the ruling party at the national level was that he would have to queue up and that he could not be given an automatic ticket for the governorship election under the APC.

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2027 election: PDP takes action as another governor hints at defecting to APC

"Governor Adeleke’s plight regarding his bungled attempts to defect into the APC could be likened to that of a promiscuous housewife who thinks that her illicit act, perpetrated in secrecy, is not known to her neighbours.

"If not many people were not privy to how some governors in the Southwest geopolitical zone and some notable millionaire industrialists were using the dead of the night to package Governor Adeleke for the failed defection exercise, his begging visit to Chief Bisi Akande in his Ibadan, Oyo State residence is still fresh in the memory of the right-thinking members of society."

Reacting, Adeleke’s spokesperson, Olawale Rasheed, disclosed in a statement that in two years, Governor Adeleke has performed better than Governor Rauf Aregbesola and the Gboyega Oyetola administration and does not need to join the APC to win re-election.

Read more about politicians and defections here:

• 2027 election: Tension rises in PDP as ex-deputy governorship candidate, others defect to APC, cite reason
• 2027 election: PDP takes action as another governor hints at defecting to APC
• 2027 election: Ayodele lists 5 PDP govs to work for APC

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Delta defection: Drama as Okowa fires back at Saraki, defends move to APC, “You’ve no moral right”

Momodu rules out possibility of Atiku joining APC

Earlier, Legit.ng reported that PDP chieftain and Atiku Abubakar's ally, Dele Momodu, has said the former Vice President is not planning to join the APC.

Legit.ng recalls that the vice-presidential candidate of the PDP in the 2023 Nigerian election, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, recently claimed that his erstwhile principal, Atiku, is on his way out of the PDP.

But speaking in an interview on Wednesday, April 30, Momodu countered Okowa and stated that Atiku is focused on the 2027 election as a leader of the country's opposition.

Source: Legit.ng