2023 Poll: Oyo Deputy Governor’s Defection, Bad Signal For Makinde, Says PDP Governorship Aspirant

A former Deputy Governor of Oyo State, Dr Hazeen Gbolarumi, has blamed Governor Seyi Makinde for the defection of his deputy, Rauf Olaniyan, to the opposition party.

Olaniyan, who has had a frosty relationship with Makinde since their inauguration announced his defection from the ruling Peoples Democratic Party in the state to the All Progressives Congress on Sunday.

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Gbolaruni, while speaking with THE WHISTLER on Tuesday said the defection of the deputy governor and that of Senator Kola Balogun; Alhaji Adebisi Olopoeyan among others were confirmation that Makinde had sidelined many of those who assisted him to win the 2019 governorship poll.

He said the PDP might lose the state in 2023 if drastic steps were not taken to reverse the gale of defections that had hit the party.

” I have never seen such since I joined politics. What is common is politicians defecting to the party in government especially when elections are closer like they are now. But in our case here, the reverse is the case.

” So many prominent politicians have left the PDP because of the way the governor treated them. They are not asking him to give them money, but they should be recognised. They cannot influence common road repair to their constituencies, they can’t facilitate employment for their supporters who they used during the election

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” Some people who did little or nothing were brought in to reap where they did not sow and the governor, maybe because of ego or something else has refused to listen to the admonitions from various quarters.

“The deputy governor has also left and this is a bad signal for the governor. Something must be done to stop these defections or else the party may become empty soon.”

Gbolarumi said one of the solutions to the problems of the PDP in the state is to replace him with the governor as the governorship candidate in 2023.

Gbolaruni, who contested the PDP governorship primary election against Makinde had protested during the contest that some loyalists of the governor attacked his delegates and drove them away from the stadium before voting started.

He said, ” The best thing we can do is to replace him ( Makinde). I have not surrendered concerning the primary election. No retreat, no surrender but I am waiting for what the national party will do.

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“But if political solution is arrived at, the best thing for the governor is to reconcile genuinely with the aggrieved party leaders who have left. The situation is bad but it is still redeemable,” he added.

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