Osun APC carpets Bamidele Salam over Adeleke defection comment

By Deborah Oladejo, Osogbo

The Osun State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has criticised a statement by Hon. Bamidele Salam, a federal lawmaker representing Ede South/Ede North/Egbedore/Ejigbo Federal Constituency under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), over his recent dismissal of reports suggesting that Governor Ademola Adeleke may be considering a defection to the APC.

In a press release signed by the APC Director of Media and Information, Mogaji Kola Olabisi, the party said Salam’s comments reflected a lack of awareness about ongoing political developments within the PDP and the Adeleke administration.

Salam had said on Thursday that Governor Adeleke had never expressed any intention to leave the PDP, and claimed instead that APC leaders at the centre were “heckling” the governor to join their party.

The APC described Salam’s remarks as either a display of ignorance or a calculated political move to curry favour with the PDP leadership ahead of the next election.

According to Olabisi, “Salam’s postulation on the issue does not add up. It is practically impossible for an opposition party, which has been harvesting almost all the frontline players in the so-called ruling party on a daily basis—due to ineptitude, misgovernance, and administrative missteps—to be making overtures to a political lightweight.

“How on earth would the leadership of the thriving APC, which is in total control of all the local government councils in the state and has successfully attracted all the leading lights of the PDP, be begging the head of such a rudderless government to join our party? It simply doesn’t add up.”

Olabisi added that while the APC does not rule out the possibility that Governor Adeleke may have friends among the national leadership of the APC who are advising him to defect, this would be due to the governor’s weakening grip on both the PDP and his administration, making his reelection an uphill task.

“The truth is that the perplexed and visibly confused Governor Adeleke has been running helter-skelter—from Osogbo to Abuja, Lagos, London, America, Canada, Dubai, and France—seeking a way into our party, without success,” Olabisi claimed. “The most disappointing part is that his high-powered delegation eventually resorted to using social and entertainment personalities to continue the lobbying effort.”