Not long ago, one of Oyo’s most prominent grassroots politicians, Senator Hosea Ayoola Agboola, also known as ‘alleluyah,’ made a shocking move that caught many of his supporters, followers, and party members off guard – he resigned from the party that had brought him to state relevance and national recognition.
Although not yet official, the recent pictures of the former Deputy Chief Whip of the 7th Senate in a closed-door meeting with the Minister of Power, Oloye Bayo Adelabu, APC National Secretary, Senator Surajudeen Ajibola Basiru, Oyo Federal House of Representatives member, Prince Akeem Adeniyi, Oloye Akin Alabi, the Egbeda Federal Constituency member, and Hon. Mustapha Dawaki, Chief of Staff to the APC National Chairman in Abuja, only points to one possible and probable direction.
In hindsight, the strategic meeting between the political heavyweights suggests a possible defection of the two times former commissioner for local government and chieftaincy affairs into the fold of the All Progressives Congress, effectively cementing his much-anticipated exit from the PDP at one of its most weakest and vulnerable moments in history.
Interestingly, that talk of the town meeting equally had the 2027 elections written all over it as the momentum gathered ahead of one of Nigeria’s most crucial and consequential polls.
In effect, that public romance between the APC stalwarts and the former PDP chieftain has since sparked hot-button conversation around the fate of the once dominant People’s Democratic Party in Nigeria and in the uncertainty that hovers around the party in Oyo state as well.
Take the 2019 election. It is an open secret that Senator Agboola was one of Governor Seyi Makinde’s biggest strategists and staunchest backers, providing insights on coalition movement and the peculiar features Oyo State politics, having been around the corridors of power for years while serving in different government in different capacities.
In the 2019 contest, for instance, Senator Agboola worked tirelessly alongside other critical stakeholders to ensure GSM’s historic and heroic victory against the ruling APC under late Abiola Ajimobi. In his stronghold of Oke-Ogun, where he once emerged as the only PDP Senator from the Southwest in 2011, ‘Alleluyah’s supporters and followers cut across the ten local governments with modest grassroots following.
As a reward for his political astuteness and unwavering commitment to the PROJECT MAKINDE, ‘Alleluyah’ was unequivocally made the Chairman, Governor’s Advisory Council (GAC) 2019-2023. Remarkably, he held on to that position until the choice of who to back for the President created a wedge between him and the Governor.
For Governor Makinde, the choice of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was quite simple and straightforward: no more dominance and subjugation of the country by the northern hegemons. As a true party man, Senator Agboola stuck to his guns, backing the former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, while asserting the supremacy of the party over all other considerations.
That decision to support a candidate from the other party, according to Governor Makinde, was based on the APC’s recognition of common-sense politics and the country’s diversity amid national outrage that erupted over the PDP’s insistence on fielding a northerner after eight years of Late Muhammadu Buhari’s tenure in office.
In a way, the idea behind the formation of GAC, though strange to the Oyo state politics, was more than a mere political tool: it was a powerful setup that offered timely and timeless advice to the Governor in critical state matters. In essence, the success and setbacks of the council, given its current standing, are still being tallied as Makinde’s tenure brisk to its end. Of course, the GAC idea was an attempt to replicate the GAC Lagos state success story in Oyo State. By and large, the relevance of that initiative once Seyi Makinde’s government reaches its constitutional limit will put to the test his vision and legacy.
That way, it will be easier to measure the impacts of the council that was in its prime while under Senator Agboola chairmanship. In Politics, they used to say, the only sacrosanct thing is interest. The saying, where your interest lies is where your loyalty will also lie illustrate this better. That Senator ‘Alleluyah’ no longer proclaimed PDP as his party means his interest is no longer covered under the umbrella.
But beyond clash of interest is the nature of political events that will unfold before the next election. How many more bigwigs will jump out of PDP to other parties? How many will cross to the PDP from other parties? Who will definitely blink first as parties jostle for Makinde’s seat? How will the citizens react to the political squabbles and intrigues? No doubt, the possible defection of Senator Agboola will undoubtedly rock and shake the Oyo PDP to the root.
Forget about all the statements describing the Senator as a paperweight in the Oyo PDP as the handiwork of the Governor’s puppets and bootlickers. For one thing, no serious politician will underestimate and underate the contributions of the Senator particularly to Makinde’s political success.
In 2019 when the Senator worked for the success of the Governor, they shared many things in common including belonging to the same PDP, but by 2027, once he become a full-fledged member of the APC, he will work against the Governor’s preferred candidate, marking the first time the duo will face-off directly after working hands in gloves both in 2019 and 2023.
However, an important point to note in this political feud between the Senator and the Governor has nothing to do with the people and their plights. Plus, once the Senator finally jump the ship or remain politically neutral, the role he played in Makinde’s electoral and political success would be permanently etched in history book. Nothing will erase it, both the good, the bad and the ugly.
For me, the possible defection of the Senator should not be equated as a crushing blow on the PDP because the crossing of one bigwig from one party may be inconsequential in the grand scheme of things. Take the defection of the late Adebayo Alao-Akala and Senator Teslim Folarin, both ex-members of the PDP, to the APC in the build-up to the 2019 election.
While the defection made headlines, in addition to the bragging of the late Abiola Ajimobi that his party had attracted notable politicians in the state, thereby clipping the wings of the opposition, the combination of the political gladiators couldn’t stop Seyi Makinde’s political tsunami despite the fragile nature of the coalition that brought him to power.
OYO101 is Muftau Gbadegesin’s opinion about issues affecting the Oyo state and is published every Saturday. He can be reached via @Upliftnuggets on X, muftaugbadegesin@gmail.com, and 09065176850.
