The senator elected on the platform of the Oyo State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr Kola Balogun, has formally defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Senator Balogun, a first-time senator representing Oyo South Senatorial District, took his exit from the ruling party at an event held at the state APC Secretariat, Oke-Ado, Ibadan, on Tuesday, May 10, 2022.
The defection followed weeks of a silent war, following the decision of the state governor, ‘Seyi Makinde, to deny the senator a ticket to return to the Senate for a second term on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Addressing the APC loyalists, its leadership and his supporters, Senator Balogun appreciated President Muhammadu Buhari; the state party chairman, Hon Isaac Omodewu, and other party executives for accepting him back to the party.
The younger brother of Olubadan of Ibadan noted that he didn’t decamp to the APC, rather, he came back home, saying: “I went to the PDP on sabbatical. Now I’m back home.”
Senator Balogun then berated the Engr. Seyi Makinde-led administration for the increasing spate of insecurity in the state, emphasising that “hoodlums kill recklessly in Ibadan, daily.
Lamenting the increasing spate of insecurity in the state, Senator Balogun said “People are being killed every day, yet the governor is not doing anything about it.
On the Light Up Oyo Project of Governor Makinde, Senator Balogun said using diesel to power generators to run the streetlights is fraud and a waste of resources.
“They claimed they’re lighting up Oyo State with streetlights. Ask them: whose company is selling the diesel they use to power the generator used to run the streetligh? They are just serving their interests,” Balogun stated.
Commenting on the Senatorial ticket given to him by the Oyo PDP in 2018, Senator Balogun said: “When, in 2018, I was given the ticket, I was told it was a delicate one: the party offered Adeniran and Sarafadeen Alli but they rejected it; I received it and God favoured me. Today, those who helped Seyi Makinde to win the election have left him, yet he kept saying ‘no problem,’ but he would soon realize that there are ‘problems s.'”
Welcoming Senator Kola Balogun, APC’s chairman, Hon. Ajiboye Omodewu said APC was lucky to have the three Senators and 11 House of Representatives members in the state, which, according to him, would give the party opportunity to win the 2023 election in the state.
Also, Senator Abdulfatai Buhari said the coming of Senator Balogun into the APC would foster unity and enhance collaboration among federal lawmakers.
He, however, tasked the party members to unite and ensure they work for the emergence of the party in the next election.
With the defection of Senator Balogun, the ruling PDP in the state, led by Governor Seyi Makinde’s administration, has no elected representative in the upper chamber of the National Assembly.
