INTERVIEW: PDP not losing sleep over defections – Osun State Media Director
Mr Oladele Bamiji, popularly known as HOB, is the Senior Special Assistant to Osun Governor on Media and the Media Director of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) in Osun. In this exclusive interview with WESTERN POST‘s Deborah Oladejo, Bamiji addresses the wave of defections from the PDP to the All Progressives Congress (APC). He evaluates the influence of political mobilisers, and speaks candidly about Governor Ademola Adeleke’s loyalty to the party.
Q: We’ve seen a wave of defections from the PDP to the APC recently, both in Osun State and other states. What is your general reaction to this trend?
A: My immediate reaction is that these defections are essentially a battle for survival. In my view, speaking from a Christian perspective, many of those defecting are “men of little faith”, fearful of what the future holds for them. Some may feel that their past actions within the PDP won’t protect them going forward, especially with how anti-corruption agencies originally established by the PDP under President Olusegun Obasanjo are now being weaponised against opposition party members.
In Osun, many of those who have defected were never truly committed to the PDP. They had always stood ready to mock Governor Ademola Adeleke if he had lost the 2022 election. Some even secretly and, in some cases, openly worked against his emergence. After his victory, they pretended to be loyal, but as we play politics in this part of the world, we also played along. When these culprits know that the consequences of their actions in the past are already hovering over them and they can’t wait for such consequences to befall them, they’re leaving under the guise of defection. Many of them supported or financed legal actions to remove Governor Adeleke from office all the way to the Supreme Court. We know who they are and what they did. So, to outsiders, it may look like the PDP is losing ground, but in reality, we are only shedding those who were already politically lost.
Q: Many of the defectors are said to be influential grassroots mobilisers. Don’t you think their defections will affect the party?
A: Politics in Osun and Nigeria generally is evolving. Even you, as a journalist, must feel this shift. The people are more politically aware than they were in 2018 or 2022. If someone believes they are a political giant in today’s Osun, they are living in delusion. People are now asking real questions. Even me as am talking to you I am also mobilizing in my own way, the people you’re mobilizing are also watching you what are you mobilizing them for that is why I say people are becoming more aware it is no longer business as usual people know what they want, they’re evaluating politicians based on their impact, not just their noise.
Governor Adeleke is doing well; he is reviving the civil service, caring for pensioners, and improving health infrastructure. The Governor has been reshaping the State, taking good care of our elders who have served their fatherland with their dark hairs but were made to suffer; many have been buried due to lack of care by the APC administration in the State, so if anyone now says he wants to mobilise against such a governor, then the same people you want to mobilise will ask you questions. This is not politics as usual. Big names no longer guarantee political success. In fact, if it were up to political godfathers alone, Governor Adeleke would never have emerged. Those who follow his political trajectory will agree with me that the governor, right from 2018, when he was thrown into the ring to contest, got stabbed by those who were supposed to be his immediate technical support base; the allegiance was changed at the eleventh hour. His rise was against all odds, and the people of the state stood with him every step of the way, and he won the 2022 election. That’s the power of grassroots democracy.
Q: Some believe that Governor Ademola Adeleke may defect to secure his political future and avoid possible political isolation. What’s your take on that narrative?
A: That’s just a rhetorical tale. The governor has already dismissed such rumours clearly. He’s not leaving the PDP. What would the governor be looking for here and there when he has a solid platform through which he is serving his people, and he’s serving them meritoriously? For his excellency and for us, the political platform is simply a vehicle to serve the people according to the constitution. If we operated a no-party system, Governor Adeleke could win elections based on the good name of his family and the good name he built for himself from his time as a senator to his current tenure as governor; he has shown integrity and capacity. So, there’s no reason for him to defect. He is firmly rooted in the PDP, and the people trust both him and the party.
Q: But if more PDP governors defect, won’t he follow suit?
A: More PDP governors are not Ademola Adeleke. The PDP Governors’ Forum is just a forum; it doesn’t define Osun State. We’ve seen parties like APGA and the Labour Party thrive with only one governor in Nigeria. What matters is the trust of the people.
Governor Adeleke is firmly rooted in the trust of Osun people. He doesn’t need to join the APC to serve them. In fact, it’s dangerous for our democracy if everyone runs to the ruling party, APC. That kind of monopoly breeds impunity. When politicians defect just to shield themselves from prosecution, democracy suffers. People begin to believe that joining the ruling party gives you immunity from accountability. Let me say this: it is dangerous for our politics; it is dangerous for our people because impunity will begin to take centre stage where corruption will have no consequences anymore because, you know, so far you chose to defect to APC; whatever sins you have committed will be forgiven. I pity Nigerians because they are the ones that will bear the brunt of it.
So, for my own governor, my principal, he doesn’t have to defect, and he has made it crystal clear to the people of Osun State that he’s going nowhere. The people invested their trust and hope in him with the PDP as his party. The people still trust that PDP; they trust the governor, so he doesn’t need the help of another party to serve them.
Q: What is the way out of the local government crisis in the state?
A: The way out is through the law. Governor Adeleke is a peaceful leader, not one for bloodshed or chaos. Unlike the APC, which often seems to push for confrontations, he has chosen the path of law and order. That’s why he asked the newly elected local government chairmen to work from home while legal issues are being resolved in court.
It’s better to sacrifice time than to sacrifice lives. The governor has made it clear that the grassroots representatives should stay calm and allow the legal process to run its course. There’s no justification for violence when the goal is public service. We hope the courts will soon deliver justice, and then we can all move forward in peace. The people must not suffer because of political games. Governor Adeleke is determined to ensure they don’t.
Nobody should take interest in bloodshed; those wanting confrontations and violence can hide themselves. They have money they can use to run abroad or hide in hotels, but the downtrodden people have nowhere to go because they are the proverbial grass that suffers where two elephants fight. The governor does not want two elephants to fight in our state because he knows the real grass that will suffer for it.
