The Osun State Commissioner for Information, Kolapo Alimi, says the conduct of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP)’s convention in Ibadan delayed Governor Ademola Adeleke’s defection to the Accord Party (A).
Alimi spoke in an interview with Channels Television’s The Morning Brief, saying his principal needed the convention to be over before making a move.
“He resigned his membership from the People’s Democratic Party on November 4. He had actually joined the Accord Party by November 6, but he delayed the unveiling because of the convention of the PDP, which was going on,” the commissioner said on Wednesday.
“He didn’t want to be seen as part of the people who disrupted the event. He left the People’s Democratic Party because the leadership crisis heightened.”
READ ALSO: Governor Ademola Adeleke Resigns From PDP
Adeleke joined Accord on Tuesday, weeks after he left the PDP, the platform he was elected on as the governor of the South-West State.
The governor cited the party’s crisis as the reason for his resignation from the PDP.
“Due to the current crisis of the national leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), I hereby resign my membership of the Peoples Democratic Party with immediate effect,” the governor wrote in a letter addressed to the PDP Chairman of Ward 2, Sagba Abogunde, in Ede North Local Government, Osun State.
His resignation added to the number of governors and other bigwigs who have left the PDP. Although he did not team up with the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Adeleke’s defection came in the wake of the crisis rocking the PDP at the national level.
The main opposition party has two leadership groups at the national level. A group backed by Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State and his Bauchi counterpart, Bala Mohammed, conducted a convention in Ibadan.
READ ALSO: Governor Adeleke Announces Defection To Accord Party
That convention came in the wake of different court verdicts regarding the event, with one asking them to go ahead and the other telling the party to shelve the exercise.
While many felt the convention would signal the end of the crisis in the PDP, the situation has escalated.
According to Alimi, Governor Adeleke feared his ambitions were at risk if he stayed in the PDP, a development which pushed him to Accord.
“He left the People’s Democratic Party because the leadership crisis was unending,” the commissioner said.
“Yesterday, the Governor unveiled Accord because, looking at their manifesto, it goes in line with good governance that Adeleke is delivering, and everybody since yesterday has actually welcomed him and given kudos to Governor Ademola Adeleke for going to Accord.”
Despite joining Accord, Alimi said his principal’s support for President Bola Tinubu’s re-election is unwavering.
“That is no longer news for anybody. Even when we were in the People’s Democratic Party, we adopted the President [Tinubu] for a second term,” the commissioner said.
“When you trace the root of Mr President, you trace it to Osun state. He is one of us, and we have to give him the necessary support”.