Another strange incident that defied the known rule of political endeavours was witnessed in the ancient town of Ikirun in Ifelodun Local Government Council Area of Osun State on Sunday when there was the usual harvest of the chieftains and members of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) by the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC).
What is normally in vogue is for the members of the opposition to feel insecure in their party and manifest desperation in being partakers in the eating of the meals of the state common patrimony of which the chief executive of the state is in charge of both the knife and the foods.
But rather than following the normal trend of the natural scheme of things, what has been the order of the day in Osun State was the members and leaders of the ruling PDP leaving for the opposition APC in droves.
When such abandonment of the ruling party has become the usual occurrence, it is an indication that all is not well with the ruling party and it could be literally said to have been confined to the Intensive Care Unit with a zero chance of its survival.
Few weeks ago, it was Prince Dotun Babayemi, former governorship aspirant of the PDP, who slugged it out with the incumbent Governor Ademola Adeleke in the 2022 election and a permanent PDP Board of Trustees member, Alhaji Shuaib Oyedokun, who led thousands of the PDP members and chieftains into the APC with fanfare in Osogbo.
Earlier, the Ile-Ogbo-born insurance magnate and former governorship aspirant in the PDP, Dr Akin Ogunbiyi, who also fiercely contested with Adeleke through the Accord Party had also moved into the opposition APC with his numerous supporters across the state.
There are still notices of the willingness of some other eminent members of the ruling PDP to call it quits with the party and take refuge in the opposition party at later dates across the state.
The latest catch of the opposition APC in Osun State, Barrister Kayode Oduoye, also former governorship candidate of the PDP who relinquished the slot for Governor Adeleke during the 2022 election, was a monumental political achievement for the APC in the state as his supporters are not only in Ikirun but spread across the length and breadth of the state.
It is not an understatement to observe and conclude that the sickness of the PDP is not limited to the national level alone as recently espoused by the enfant terrible political comedian of the PDP extraction, Senator Dino Melaye, who publicly said that the available situations are indicative of the fact that life has been snuffed out of the once-upon-a-time political party, but the situation of the party in Osun State is beyond redemption.
The venue of the decamping of Barrister Oduoye and his supporters at Okeafo, Ikirun, was filled beyond capacity on Sunday as the defecting PDP members and their hosts were sighted singing, dancing and exchanging pleasantries and banters with the patent disposition of mien of joy and happiness boldly written on their faces.
The Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Alhaji Oyetola, the leader of the party in the state, who was represented by Alhaji Bola Oyebamiji, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer(CEO) of the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), did not mince words as he told the decampees that they were in a safe political party as their interest would not be forsaken.
Oyetola who warmly welcomed Oduoye and his supporters said it was a wise decision that they made by leaving the political wilderness to where genuine light is ubiquitous with a task that they should work assiduously in order to send Governor Adeleke's government packing through their votes in the next general elections.
In the Minister's words: "I am very happy to formally receive Kayode Oduoye popularly called 'Super Kay' and his followers. No doubt, Oduoye is a politician to reckon with not only in Ikirun but in the entire state.
"His political trajectory has been very impactful and rewarding. As a young politician of repute, our party has once again, increased with great people in Ifelodun Federal Constituency", Oyetola said.
Oduoye stated that his decision to denounce the PDP was a deliberate effort to pitch tent with a political party built on internal democracy and democratic tenets in order to further impact the people's lives positively.
As things are now with the Osun State PDP, what is left of the party is a mere carcass awaiting the services of the eagle-eyed undertakers who are speedily anxiously waiting and voraciously willing to consign its remains to a readily constructed vault in the Ede country home of the Adelekes where horrendous directives for the ruling party and the governor are strangely oozing out from.
e-SIGNED:
Chief KOLA OLABISI, Director, Directorate of Media and Information, Osun State APC , Osogbo, Osun State
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