Seyi Makinde, governor of Oyo State, is close to joining the All Progressives Congress, APC, sources familiar with the development have confided in OYOINSIGHT.COM.
This revelation came days after his spokesperson, Taiwo Adisa, denied the defection plan.
Only last Saturday, Ayoade Adeseun, former house of representatives member and senator, had revealed that Makinde is in talk with APC leaders in Abuja over possibility of defection. He however said that he and others would work against him if he joins the party.
This newspaper understands that Makinde has not having it good, especially as regards the management of the party in the Southwest and Oyo State.
Makinde won the 2019 governorship election in the state as a candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, supported by a coalition of other parties which included African Democratic Congress, Zenith Labour Party and Social Democratic Party.
But soon after gaining power, the governor became estranged with a number of the coalition politicians and some members of his own PDP.
The Ogbomoso-born APC leader had, shortly after revalidating his membership of the party at Olukotun compound polling unit of his Sabo/Taara ward 10 in Ogbomoso North local government, said that his party would takeover power in the state before 2023.
“Let me now shock you, all things being equal and without mincing words, APC will be in power in Oyo state before 2023,” Alao-Akala had told journalists.
Sources added that Makinde has “seriously considered overtures” made to him by APC leaders, notably Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi.
Fayemi, OYOINSIGHT.COM understands, is a pillar in a faction of APC that also includes Nasir El-Rufai, Kaduna state governor. The group is opposed to APC’s national leader Bola Tinubu’s perceived presidential ambition.
”The calculation is that with Governor Makinde, it is a plus for the anti-Tinubu elements. It is believed that whoever emerges candidate of the APC ahead of the 2023 election in Oyo will have Tinubu’s hand. So if Makinde comes, that has been foreclosed as it will further diminishes his strength,” another source said.
Fayemi, a two-term governor, is a regular visitor at Alao-Akala’s Bodija residence.
While Makinde is being promised a ticket to vie in 2023, he is said to be also demanding a control of the party structure in the state.
But Makinde had denied the move, saying that APC members are jealous of his achievements.
Makinde’s Denial: APC Merely Coveting Governor’s Great Feats
The Chief Press Secretary to Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, Mr. Taiwo Adisa, has reacted to claims by some members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) that the governor was about to defect to the party, declaring that the APC was merely covetous of the great feats achieved by Makinde as governor of Oyo State.
In a statement on Monday, the spokesman said that the plot to lure Makinde to the APC did not come as a surprise.
“One is not surprised that some elements in the APC are busy debating the possibility of Governor Makinde’s defection to the party.
“The unprecedented achievements the governor has recorded in a very short time, especially despite the COVID-19 pandemic, has thoroughly beaten their imagination such that they have concluded it is impossible to raise a candidate to contest against him in 2023.
“As a close watcher of the GSM magic, so to say, one cannot be surprised that the APC in Oyo State is really envious of the great attainments of Governor Makinde.
“Every sector you turn to, he has something positive to show.
“Only last week, he launched the first modern landfill in the country. He is presently constructing the first concrete road in the state, the 12-kilometre Apete-Awotan-Akufo road. This is in addition to the massive road and infrastructure projects that dot the entire Oyo State landscape.
“However, rather than claim that Makinde wants to defect to the APC, the truth the APC elements should tell the world is that their party is attempting to lure the performing governor in order to avert a woeful performance against him in 2023.
“Contrary to the claims of the APC members that the governor has been soft against criticisms by its members, Governor Makinde has not bothered to respond to their baseless criticisms in recent times but has chosen to remain focused on service delivery.
“We also completely reject the claims that his desire to join the APC informed the “soft approach” to the farmers/herders’ crisis.
“Rather, the governor has remained on the side of the law and has always insisted that criminals, whichever tribe they belong, are our enemies and they must be fished out without undue ethnic profiling.
“So, the best thing the APC could come up with right now is to imagine a Makinde as a standard-bearer so he could serve as a surreptitious redemption for the years of locust the party had inflicted on the people of Oyo State.
