Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, has mocked the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Osun State over the gale of defection that recently hit its rank.
The immediate past governor of the state spoke on Friday in Osogbo at a rally organised to receive PDP ex-National Deputy Chairman, Shuaib Oyedokun and ex-governorship aspirant on the platform of PDP, Dotun Babayemi and their supporters who defected to All Progressive Congress, APC.
Oyetola declared that there has not been any major defection from the APC despite losing the state gubernatorial election, but the reverse is the case.
The Minister noted that the mass decamping of PDP members to APC shows that the party no longer exist in the state and expressed optimism that they would take back the state in the 2026 governorship election.
He said, “It is an irony that we lost an election over a year ago and there has been no major defection from the party. What we have is the reverse. It is the ruling party that is coming to us, which shows that APC remains a party to beat. We have done so well, and people are starting to see that when it comes to governance, the progressive knows how to.
“The way President Bola Tinubu has been governing us, that is what the APC governors in their respective states have been doing. I am delighted for the fact that we are not just getting anybody, but people of substance. Like Baba Suaibu, he is a veteran member of the PDP, decamping to the APC. It shows that PDP doesn’t exist any longer here.
“I am confident that in 2026 we are going to take over the state. This is just the beginning because several people are willing to come back to us, and a lot of political heavyweights are coming to join us. I welcome Dotun Babayemi and Alhaji Suiabu Oyedokun to the progressives.”
Also speaking at the event, Babayemi said good governance had ceased in Osun after Oyetola exited office.
He said, “The last time we witnessed good governance was in 2022 when Oyetola left government and it is time we unite to send the present administration out of the government house for the sake of the state’s development.”