Senator Kola Balogun, representing Oyo South Senatorial District in the Senate, has spoken on his closeness to Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, but said that his moving to All Progressives Congress (APC) was because of the unexpected that happened.
Senator Balogun spoke on the issue when asked about his movement to APC from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) just before the latter party’s election primaries in 2022.
Speaking on a radio interview on Fresh 105.9 FM, Ibadan, the Political Circuit, which was monitored by Thenewsbearer on Saturday, May 20, 2023, the senator said that he would not have done anything different taking into cognizance what played out.
Senator Balogun, a former PDP lawmaker, had left for the APC after being denied a second term ticket on the platform of his former party.
Responding to the question on whether he regrets leaving PDP for APC or would have done things differently if given another opportunity, Senator Balogun said: “I would not have done anything different. What you may not know is that that was the most unexpected thing to happen. This was because the governor and I were really very close and he was telling whoever cared to listen that there was no vacancy in Oyo South, but politics is something else.
“Twenty four hours is a long time in politics, so things happened that changed all of that. This is not known to members of the public, but after I left the party and there was this controversy about whether what I did was right or wrong, he actually sent for me to come back and pick the ticket.
“Just before the primaries with Tegbe, he sent someone, a lady, to my wife to tell me to come back and pick the ticket. My wife was in Abuja and said Governor Seyi Makinde said I should come back and pick the ticket, and I said I don’t want it anymore. My life is not all about being a senator.
“I was something before I became a senator and by God’s grace, I will continue to be something after I leave the Senate. I said what that means is that I will be subjected to public ridicule, within a spate of one month, to be jumping from PDP to APC to PDP in the name of getting a ticket, I said he can keep his ticket. So, that was what happened at that time.
“In fact, a lot of PDP senators were very upset with Governor Seyi Makinde about what transpired. At our caucus meetings, I got to know that there is this rivalry between governors and senators, but mine was different. and my colleagues would always talk about their experiences with their governors. I could remember when we came to Lagos for an oversight visit and we mentioned visiting Oyo State. Some of them did not know whether the governor would receive us, so I called the governor and he picked it and he received us. One of my colleagues said that was the first time he would see a governor and senator working together.
“In fact, some of my colleagues are still upset with the governor, and there was a time the governor had to confess to one of my colleagues, so when that one called me, asking why I refused to go back to the PDP to pick the ticket, I said I couldn’t go back because it would subject me to public ridicule. He now asked who a high chief in Ibadan is, and I told him he is a former governor of the state, and he told me that it was him who influenced the ticket taken away from me.”
When asked whether he refused to go back to the PDP because he was promised the ticket in the APC, the Senator stated: “In this political environment, I have known not to believe any lies. The APC is another different level. I had sealed the deal at Abuja, even without the knowledge of Senator Teslim Folarin at that time because when I resigned from PDP, he was abroad. So, if I believed those who had been coming to me, I would have let out the cat from the bag but I didn’t. Kebbi State governor was involved, Senate President was involved and some of my colleagues. in fact, when I was in PDP, they had always been asking me to come back to APC. I didn’t know what they saw, but I said I would not come back to APC. Governor Fayemi too was involved. I met the Governor of Kebbi, Senate President, Omisore, Gov Fayemi, and they told me the president had endorsed my second term ticket. All these, Senator Folarin was not aware. A lot of APC members were not aware, so they now told me to go and do the needful and change party in Oyo State.
“So, I came back and the APC grassroots accepted me wholeheartedly. When I formalised my membership at Oke Bola, the crowd was enormous. market men and women. I didn’t ask them to come, they came on their own, hired buses to the venue. They had done the primaries before I joined the party, if not, they would not take the ticket from me. In 2019, I reluctantly agreed to take PDP ticket and I want to say that it is the grace of God that made it happen. With what I have said, you could see that people wanted me. However, some people and the high chief I just mentioned worked against me.”
