A chieftain of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Oyo State has said that Governor Seyi Makinde of the state has concluded plans to dump the party.
PREMIER NEWS recalls that Makinde won the 2019 gubernatorial election on the platform of the PDP.
But a chieftain of PDP who begged not to be mentioned, said that Makinde will leave PDP, ahead of 2023 election due to some disagreement between him and some chieftains of the party.
The PDP chieftain who spoke with DAILY POST on Sunday, said that Makinde will join ADC immediately after the forthcoming local government election in the state.
He added that the governor was not satisfied with the current leadership of the PDP in the state, hence his decision to dump the party for ADC.
The PDP chieftain who spoke with our correspondent in Ibadan said that Makinde has been engaging ADC chieftains among whom are Mrs. Monsurat Sunmonu, a former Speaker in the State to have a smooth defection to ADC. The PDP chieftain added that Sunmonu is one of the ADC chieftains that have been holding forth for Makinde in ADC.
The PDP chieftain who spoke in confidence with an online news medium cited the current disagreement between Makinde and PDP executives in a WhatsApp group where Makinde left the group.
Our correspondent learnt that Makinde had on Saturday left the official WhatsApp platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the State. The WhatsApp group was created by the Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Engineer Akeem Olatunji.
Makinde angrily left the WhatsApp platform at about 10pm on Saturday, after he had confronted the PDP State Publicity Secretary for posting a video on Fulani herdsmen attack on the people of Ayete, headquarters of Ibarapa North Local Government Area of Oyo State, which has other towns like Igangan.
Olatunji had called on the governor to take urgent steps to save the people of Ayete from incessant attacks by Fulani herdsmen and the PDP Publicity Secretary posted it on the platform.
He said, “This video has gone viral but the authority needs to confirm the claim. It’s very urgent to address the message…”
Makinde, however, at about 10:07pm on Saturday reacted angrily to the comment by the PDP Publicity Secretary, saying; “Every time some idiots make (sic) a video, the government must respond… I don’t get it really… you need mature people to make meaningful contributions on your platform.”
He then exited the platform.
The PDP chieftain who spoke on the condition of anonymity said that issues like this are some of the reasons Mankide decided to leave PDP.
“Yes, you will see, he will soon leave the party. He is going to ADC. I am telling you, he will leave the PDP soon.
“He has been talking to those in ADC. I am telling you that he will soon leave PDP. After the local government election, he will leave PDP.”
However, the Chief Press Secretary to Makinde, Mr. Taiwo Adisa while reacting, warned against the growing false security alarms in the form of fake audio and video posts on social media.
Adisa declared that residents of the state should ignore such contents.
“The penchant of certain individuals, groups and faceless bodies to take to social media and raise unfounded alarm just to cause panic among the people of Oyo State is becoming a cause for concern..
“As a government, the contents of some of these audio and video releases have been investigated and mostly found to be outright falsehood, baseless claims and products of hate speech, targeted only at discrediting the government and inciting the people.