A member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Oluwole Oke, who recently defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC), has attributed his decision to a breakdown of leadership and internal crisis within the PDP.
Oke, who represents Oriade/Obokun Federal Constituency of Osun State and chairs the House Committee on Public Accounts, made the remarks during a current affairs programme Frontline, aired on Eagle 102.5 FM, Ilese-Ijebu, on Wednesday.
Speaking on the programme, the six-term lawmaker said his defection, formally announced on April 23, 2025, was not driven by financial inducement, contrary to speculations, but rather by the need to align with a political structure capable of delivering development to his constituents.
“In respect to the leadership of PDP as it is today, they have failed totally, to manage that party that we suffered, we labored to build over the years. How did we get there? … We caused it, we were not just being strategic, we didn’t plan, we planned to fail and we failed.”
He lamented the present state of the PDP, describing it as a shadow of the party he once helped to build.
“I don’t discuss members of my political family, those that we’ve had cause to work together, I don’t discuss them in the public, I’m not trained to do so. But, you know it is very clear that, that party is in the mug. Perhaps, there may be a miracle. It may wake up in 2028.”
“I’ll just put it simply that, my former party internal mechanism is not working and the party is fractured. It’s like a divorce. It’s like the marriage. It has broken down, it has become irretrievable. That’s the way I’ll put it,” he stated.
Oke also used the opportunity to refute claims that his defection, as well as similar recent defections in Delta State, were motivated by financial rewards.
“Such claims are unfounded and untrue,” he said, insisting that his decision to join the APC was rooted in his desire to empower youths and address infrastructural decay in his constituency.
He noted that his admiration for President Bola Tinubu’s leadership style, especially his bold economic reforms such as the Nigeria First Policy, fuel subsidy removal, and floating of the naira, further convinced him that the APC was a better platform to drive meaningful development.
“The Asiwaju mentees over the years have done tremendously well and I would love to join the queue,” he added.
The development follows a wave of defections from the PDP in Delta State, where the entire House of Assembly, six federal lawmakers, Governor Sheriff Oborevwori, and former Governor Ifeanyi Okowa have all crossed over to the APC, dealing a significant blow to the opposition party’s standing in the region.
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