The Governorship Candidate of the Alliance for Democracy (AD) in the last election in Ondo State, Chief Olusola Oke may have perfected plan to defect to the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) with his supporters from the All Progressives Congress (APC). Oke joined the APC shortly after he lost he lost the governorship seat to Oluwarotimi Akeredolu in the 2016 governorship election. He also came third in the APC primary that produced Akeredolu as the candidate of the party. He left the APC to AD to contest the governorship election. Since he joined the party, Oke and his supporters had not been integrated into the party as none of his supporters were given government level. In a meeting held in Oke’s house in Ijapo in Akure, the state capital, yesterday all the people in the meeting lamented that they were not integrated into the party at their local government level.
Those in the meeting, according to sources made available to Hero Magazine Online News included his running mate in the 2016 elections, Hon Ganny Daodu, Hon. Ola Oguntimehin, Mr. Ola Ilesanmi and his Media Adviser, Mr Rotimi Ogunleye. Oke who set the tone for the meeting said he regretted joining the APC initially as all promises made to him were not fulfilled by the leadership of the party. Giving reports from the 18 local governments, the members said they were not seeing as members of the APC despite the fact that they defected to the party with Oke.
A member said they were tired of APC as Oke who was their leader should lead them out of the ruling party. In fact, a member said the APC had no culture of regular meeting at the political ward, local government and the state levels saying they had not attended any meeting since the beginning of this year. One of his core supporters said APC was a scam as he thought the AD governorship candidate would be given appointment at the national level considering the pedigree of Oke in political landscape of the state.
Oke was a Commissioner in the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Legal Adviser of PDP, governorship candidate of PDP and later that of AD. However, his Media Adviser, Ogunleye who denied the defection rumour said the meeting was not about Oke’s defection but a regular meeting of his supporters. Meanwhile, the State chapter of the APC had dismissed insinuation that 5,000 members dumped the party for the rival PDP.
The State Publicity Secretary of APC, Mr, Alex Kalejaye described the claim as spurious, mischievous and laughable. Kalejaye said that the leader of the group, Mr. Lanre Olurakinse, left the APC for the Alliance for Democracy in 2016, “shortly after the party’s governorship primaries and has since remained there.”
Alex said: “The said group leader, Lanre Olurakinse, is ceased to be a member of the APC in Idanre Local Government Area since 2016, when he defected to the Alliance for Democracy. “I wonder if people still have regards for figures. A man that can’t influence three persons will suddenly claim to lead thousands.”
