- says: ‘Test your popularity in PDP’
By John Dike, Osogbo
The rumoured planned defection of Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke has hit a brick wall, as the All Progressives Congress’s founding national chairman, Chief Bisi Akande, has shut the party’s door against the governor.
The door slamming comes amid growing speculation that Adeleke may be considering to join the APC, following increasing tensions within the Osun PDP.
For some months now, local government administration in the state has been locked down due to the dispute between the PDP and APC on who controls the councils, despite a court order.
It is believed that Adeleke, whose prominent industrialist billionaire elder brother, Dr Deji Adeleke, and globally acclaimed music megastar, Davido, recently accompanied to President Bola Tinubu in his Lagos home, is on his way to the president’s party, the APC.
But, Akande, who was also a former governor of the state, has told Adeleke that he is not wanted in the APC few months to the 2026 governorship election in the state.
In fact, the elder statesman, in a statement, warned against opening the APC’s door to Adeleke, a move he described as “politically dangerous, morally confusing, and strategically ill-advised”
To him, accepting Adeleke into the APC while still in office could undermine the party’s integity and disillusion its long-serving loyalists.
He said, “Let him test his popularity at the 2026 polls”.
According to Akande. “If the people of Osun still stand with him, he can then consider joining APC as a free citizen, not as a sitting governor hiding under a collapsing structure.
“The APC Is Not a Refuge for Collapsing Politicians”
Akande, renowned for his unwavering stance on party discipline and ideological clarity, stressed that the APC was not created to accommodate political opportunists.
He said the idea of Adeleke defecting from an allegedly weakened PDP to seek shelter in the APC runs counter to the founding values of the party.
His words, “We formed the APC not as a shelter for politicians seeking relevance after failure, but as a movement grounded in progressive ideas and accountable leadership.
“Governor Adeleke’s defection at this stage would distort that vision.”
Also, he warned against any political arrangement that sacrifices the years of hard work and dedication by Osun APC members for short-term political gains.
“Those who built this party from the ground up, who stood firm through electoral defeats and legal battles, cannot be sidelined for someone who only yesterday was leading the charge against us,” he said.
The Ila Orangun born elder statesman urged the party’s national leadership, and South-West stakeholders to tread carefully and avoid hasty political decisions that could destabilise the party’s structure in Osun State.
His words, “The national leadership must resist any temptation to impose Governor Adeleke on Osun APC without wide consultation.
“Defections are welcome, but they must happen after elections — when individuals come on merit, not calculation.”
As political realignments continue ahead of the 2026 governorship race, Chief Akande’s intervention is likely to ignite further debate on the future of party politics in the state.
