The Oyo State Chairman of the Action Democratic Party, Chief Folaranmi Owolabi, alongside thousands of his supporters have defected to the ruling All Progressives Congress.
The defectors attributed their decision to the overbearing influence of a former governor of the state and the governorship candidate of the ADP, Chief Adebayo Alao-Akala.
They also accused the national secretariat of the party of making them vulnerable by neglecting the state chapter.
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Owolabi vowed to mobilise other defectors to campaign vigorously for the victory of the Oyo South Senatorial District candidate of the APC, Governor Abiola Ajimobi; the state governorship candidate, Chief Adebayo Adelabu and other APC candidates.
The defectors were received by the deputy Chairman of APC in the state, Lekan Adeyemo, at the party’s state secretariat, Oke-Ado, Ibadan.
Owolabi alleged that, since his defection from the APC, and his eventual governorship candidature, Alao-Akala had disrupted all the arrangements he met on the ground.
He explained that his party had always seen the ruling party as better coordinated, fair and just in the way it had been handling issues involving members.
Owolabi and other aggrieved leaders had last December boycotted the public presentation of Alao-Akala as the party’s governorship candidate and his campaigns in protest.