By Tajudeen Balogun
A mild drama has ensued after Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun State, visited President Bola Tinubu, in Lagos on Wednesday.
This development has triggered a verbal war between the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftains.
Although details of Adeleke’s discussion with Tinubu during his visit are yet to be ascertained, the chieftains of both the APC and PDP are already flexing muscles in a supremacy battle.
However, there are speculations that the Governor who was accompanied on the visit by his nephew and popular Afrobeat star, David Adeleke, aka Davido, the musician’s father, Dr. Deji Adeleke, is allegedly preparing a groundwork for his defection to APC.
It would be recalled that Adeleke was elected under the banner of PDP. However, following the pictures of his meeting with Tinubu which were shared on social media, a former Speaker of Osun State House of Assembly and APC stalwart, Mr Timothy Owoeye, insisted that APC would not allow Adeleke to join the national ruling party.
He declared that the APC ticket was not for sale, noting: “I am saying this categorically that APC ticket is not for sale.”
He added that as a matter of fact, as of today, “we don’t see Adeleke as a member or part of APC as a party. Let me be sincere with you, the APC in Osun is the party to beat”.
“I want to tell you that if not because of the fear of the unknown that is disturbing the Adeleke family and the PDP, they wouldn’t have been showing the intention of coming to the APC.
“We have been saying this times without number that APC in Osun, if not because of the brigandage that followed the 2022 election and that of 2023, we shouldn’t have had PDP as elected officials across the state.
“Now that the Adeleke family has seen that their tenure is already terminated, come August 08, 2026, we are driving away the PDP from the Osun government, and we want to appeal to our people to remain calm. There is no space for PDP or Adeleke in the APC” Owoeye retorted.
Responding, the Osun PDP Spokesman, Mr Oladele Bamiji, fired back, saying the APC members in the State are naive and arrogant by claiming sole ownership of the President.
While weighing in on the matter, the Governor spokesperson, Mr Olawale Rasheed, said his principal would not defect to any political party.
Rasheed in a press statement replied: “He remains a bonafide member and leader of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Osun state. The media speculation about likely or imminent defection is fake news. Governor Adeleke remains a member and leader of the PDP in Osun state.
“The visit by the Adeleke dynasty to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is a routine courtesy visit. Any reading of the defection agenda into the visit is mere fake news”.
The New Diplomat reports that the Osun State Governorship election has been fixed for Saturday, August 8, 2026.
The Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC) had since announced the date.
