A wave of defections has hit the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Oyo State, as several elected officials, appointees, and political associates of Governor Seyi Makinde have left the party for the Allied Peoples Movement (APM). 

A significant number of the governor’s political allies and close associates have resigned from the PDP and announced their defection to the APM.

Although Mr Makinde has not made an official announcement yet, the coordinated movement of his network to the APM could signify an imminent move.

Some of Mr Makinde’s key allies who have resigned and pitched their tent with the APM include Mr Shina Peller, the consensus candidate of Makinde’s PDP faction for Oyo North Senatorial District in the 2027 poll.

Mr Peller, a former member of the House of Representatives for Iseyin/Iwajowa/Itesiwaju/Kajola Federal Constituency, officially announced his resignation from the PDP on Wednesday.

He cited the protracted leadership vacuum and the “legal cul-de-sac” the PDP has been boxed into.

The former lawmaker stated that his entrance into the APM strengthens the belief that a new era of responsive and progressive representation is possible for the people of Oyo North.

Also, current lawmaker for the Ibadan North-West/South-West Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Mr Adedeji Olajide, resigned from the PDP, citing the crisis in the party as the reason for his decision.

Mr Olajide, who has reportedly switched to the APM, was earlier picked as the  PDP consensus senatorial candidate for Oyo South in the 2027 general elections.

Equally, Mr Olufemi Ajadi, the consensus candidate for the Oyo Central Senatorial election under Mr Makinde’s PDP faction, tendered his resignation from the party on May 6.

Mr Ajadi said the unresolved crisis at the national level of the PDP was the reason he would pursue his ambition on another political platform.

He stressed that the lingering internal crisis within the party could pose legal challenges to his aspiration in the long run.

A number of lawmakers in the PDP-dominated House of Assembly have also resigned from the party in the past couple of days.

Among the lawmakers who have resigned from the assembly is the majority leader, Hon. Onaolapo Sanjo Adedoyin (representing Ogbomoso South State Constituency), who has joined the APM.

It has been speculated that all of Mr Makinde’s allies, particularly aspirants jostling for federal, state, and local government seats, would all have resigned and joined the APM before Saturday.

Political observers in the state attribute the ongoing mass defection of PDP members loyal to Mr Makinde to the APM to a strategy employed by the Oyo State governor to beat the May 9 deadline stipulated in the new electoral guidelines.

The provisions of the electoral act make it necessary for the governor to publicly announce his preferred successor by May 9 at the latest.

There have been insinuations on social media that the governor had picked Mr Bimbo Adekanmbi as his preferred governorship candidate for the 2027 election, though his media aide, Dr Suleimon Olanrewaju, had dismissed the reports.

Mr Adekanmbi was a former commissioner for finance under the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led government of  Governor Abiola Ajimobi (deceased) and was later appointed by Mr Makinde as chairman of the committee handling the upgrade of the Ladoke Akintola Airport in Ibadan.

Mr Olanrewaju said the governor was still consulting widely and would make known his choice at the appropriate time.

(NAN)