Osun APC Rejects Oyinlola’s Claim on Adeleke’s Defection.
The Osun State chapter of the All Progressives Congress has denied former Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola’s allegations that the Presidency pressured the incumbent Governor, Ademola Adeleke, to defect to the national ruling party.
According to a statement signed by the party’s spokesperson, Kola Olabisi, and obtained in Osogbo on Thursday, Oyinlola made the claim during a feature on Arise Television last Sunday, alleging that Adeleke had broken down in tears due to purported pressure from the Presidency.
The APC described Oyinlola’s assertions as “at variance” with Adeleke’s position, claiming that the incumbent attempted to defect to the APC was “met with a brick wall.”
“It was in the public domain how Adeleke was moving from pillar to post in order to join our party without an iota of luck. It would not be difficult to believe that Adeleke was only overpricing himself by dropping the names of some people as putting pressure on him,” the statement said.
The party challenged Adeleke to “disclose the identities of the faceless entities” allegedly pressuring him to join the APC, dismissing the claims as a “mere fabrication,” with no reports of any governor being coerced to defect from any quarter.
The APC urged the public to disregard the alleged coercion, saying, “It is ridiculous for anyone to blame our party for the current debilitating plight of the PDP in Osun State in particular and the nation in general.”
The statement reignites debate over Adeleke’s long-rumored plans to join the APC, which circulated for months before the INEC timetable for the Osun governorship election was released. Olawale Rasheed, a media aide, repeatedly dismissed the speculation.
According to the APC, Adeleke was rejected because he would have been “a liability” and could have jeopardized the party’s integrity. However, the PDP insisted that the people of Osun would decide and defend their votes in 2026.
Olabisi recalled that a caucus in the Osun PDP, in a communique signed by Adeleke and 27 party leaders, expressed opposition to the governor’s planned defection.
In response, Osun PDP Chairman Sunday Bisi stated that the party remained focused on the people and did not intend to “import fake voters and rig the 2026 election, as being plotted by the opposition.”
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