Osun Governor’s Aide Slams PDP Senators’ Defection to APC as Political Miscalculation

The Senior Special Adviser on Media to Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, Hezekiah Bamiji, has described the defection of two senators from the Peoples Democratic Party to the All Progressives Congress as a political miscalculation.

Bamiji, who spoke on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief on Thursday, said the lawmakers, Francis Fadahunsi (Osun East) and Olubiyi Fadeyi (Osun Central), were misled by rumours that Governor Adeleke planned to defect to the APC.

“Maybe what I can say is a kind of miscalculation on the part of the lawmakers. The rumour perhaps overwhelmed them, thinking that the governor was coming, they felt that they were Abuja politicians and should be faster than the governor,” Bamiji said.

He added that the governor remained the leader of the PDP in Osun and the senators ought to have consulted him before making any political move.

ADVERTISEMENT

“The governor is the leader of the party in Osun State. I felt they should have consulted with their leader and perhaps also the people in their various constituencies, but I am not sure that was done.

“Even if the governor was going to move, did they ask the governor any questions? Yes, the APC set a trap for them, and they entered,” he added.

He also stressed that Adeleke does not need to defect to the APC to deliver good governance to Osun people.

Fadahunsi and Fadeyi were among four PDP senators who were formally received into the APC on Wednesday, increasing the ruling party’s majority in the Senate to 70 members.

The defection has reduced the PDP’s numbers to 28 in the upper chamber.

There had been speculation over Adeleke’s political future, especially after he, his brother Adedeji Adeleke, and nephew, singer Davido, visited President Bola Tinubu at his Ikoyi residence in Lagos on June 3.