Adeleke’s visit to Tinubu not about defection to APC, says campaign council
The Imole Campaign Council says Ademola Adeleke, governor of Osun, has no plans to defect from Accord to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
On Thursday, Adeleke visited President Bola Tinubu at the State House, days after securing re-election in the Osun governorship election.
The visit sparked speculation that the governor’s meeting with Tinubu was connected to a possible move to the ruling APC.
In a statement issued on Friday, Bamidele Salam, chairman of the media and publicity of the Imole Campaign Council, dismissed the reports, saying the meeting had nothing to do with any plan by Adeleke to defect to the APC.
Salam said Adeleke’s visit to Tinubu was in line with established “customs political tradition” following off-cycle elections in Nigeria.
The chairman of the house of representatives committee on public accounts said having emerged victorious in the recently concluded election, Adeleke had a responsibility to pay respect to the commander-in-chief of the armed forces.
“The visit also afforded Mr president, as the father of the nation, and the Osun state governor a platform to discuss issues pertaining to peace, security and progress of Osun state after the tense election,” the statement reads.
For the avoidance of doubt, the visit of Mr governor and top members of his campaign team had absolutely nothing to do with a plan to move from Accord to the All Progressives Congress, as insinuated in certain quarters.
“We wish to state unequivocally that at no stage during the visit to Mr president was the issue of decamping to the APC discussed.”
Speaking with journalists in Abuja on Friday, Pelumi Olajengbesi, spokesperson of the Imole Campaign Council (TICC), said Adeleke used the visit to appeal for stronger democratic institutions and greater unity in the state.
“The election was tense. The election was more or less like a war,” Olajengbesi said.
Olajengbesi also dismissed claims that the African Democratic Congress (ADC) worked with the Accord to ensure Adeleke’s re-election.
He said the governor’s victory was solely determined by voters in the state.
Adeleke secured 511,067 votes to defeat Bola Oyebamiji of the All Progressives Congress (APC), his closest challenger in the tightly contested governorship election, who placed second with 444,815 votes.