Former Osun State Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Barr. Kolapo Alimi has accused Governor Adegboyega Oyetola of dividing the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state.
Speaking on his reason for defecting from APC to Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alimi said the governor alienated the loyalists of the Minister of Interior and former governor of the state, Rauf Aregbesola.
Alimi revealed this during his official defection to PDP in Osogbo, Osun State capital on Wednesday.
He urged the people of the state to vote for the PDP candidate, Senator Ademola Adeleke in the forthcoming election slated for July 16, 2022.
Alimi, however, declared that Oyetola will lose the election and no amount of power, intimidation or threat can save him.
He said, “any political oberserver in the state that has been monitoring political development in the state will know that shortly after the inauguration of Governor Adegboyega Oyetola started divisive politics against those he perceived as loyalists of Aregbesola.
“We have cried out to so many quarters without any solution. You know Aregbesola himself is a bigwig in APC, he cannot leave the party but to those of us that can longer withstand the heat that Oyetola is using against us, we have to move out.
“We know that by the grace of God, Oyetola will lose, there is no amount of power, intimidation or threat that can save him. He has come, he has divided the party, those that actually worked for him he alienated them. He doesn’t know the value of his office that is why he cannot protect it.”
Alimi, who is now the Deputy Director General of Ademola Adeleke Campaign Organisation said Oyetola alienated Aregbesola’s loyalists regardless of their contributions to his emergence as governor.
In his remarks, the PDP flagbearer, Adeleke averred that the chances of his party has grown to 80% following the defection of Alimi and the crowd that accompanied him.
When asked if he was concerned about the election being rigged, he said, “I thank the President of the federal republic of Nigeria, President Buhari who signed the electoral law. The electoral law that he signed has already decreased rigging, so I believe that a lot of people of Osun state are wiser, they are ready to defend their votes so I don’t believe it going to be possible.
“It’s not by force to rule, people have to decide who they want and I believe it is me, Senator Ademola Nurudeen Adeleke.”
