Adeleke was a victim of circumstance – PDP

The Governor of Osun State, Ademola Adeleke. Photo: Osun State Govt House

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The Peoples Democratic Party has attributed Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke’s exit from the party to internal crises that the leadership failed to resolve, describing him as “a victim of circumstance.”

PDP National Publicity Secretary, Ini Ememobong, speaking on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief on Thursday, said the situation that led to Adeleke’s defection resulted from problems the party allowed to grow unchecked.

The PDP spokesman stated that Adeleke’s defection was avoidable because “every problem is human-caused and therefore should have a human solution.”

Ememobong insisted that timely and decisive intervention by the party leadership could have prevented the tensions that eventually pushed the governor out.

“At the level of leadership to which he belonged in the party, the party ought to have acted decisively,” he said.

He described the PDP’s internal troubles as self-inflicted and warned that political conflicts worsen when ignored.

“The challenge is that immediately we begin to feed the monster without knowing we will end up in the belly of the monster, after a while, we become victims.

“If we feed animals to the monster, and we think time will solve problems, time allows human beings to solve problems. It doesn’t solve problems on its own,” he said.

Ememobong added that the cracks within the party became visible in 2023 and should have been addressed with “strong action.” Instead, he said, the leadership chose negotiations, hoping tempers would cool.

“You also cannot fully blame them,” he said, “because sometimes they think that with negotiations, when passions are calm, people could reconsider their position, but unfortunately, it didn’t.”

He traced the major trigger of the party’s breakdown to the controversial PDP convention in Ibadan, which saw the expulsion of key members, the emergence of new national officers, and deepening internal hostilities. According to him, Adeleke’s exit was tied to “circumstances arising from vicarious liabilities which he cannot completely extricate himself from.”

PUNCH Online reported that Adeleke formally resigned from the PDP—a party under which he rose to prominence as senator and later as governor.

He announced his resignation in a post on his official X handle on December 2, attaching a letter dated November 4, 2025.

The letter, addressed to the PDP Chairman of Ward 2, Sagba Abogunde, in Ede North, stated: “Due to the current crisis of the national leadership of the PDP, I hereby resign my membership of the Peoples Democratic Party with immediate effect.”

Adeleke’s exit was followed by confirmation, in a statement issued on Tuesday by his spokesman, Olawale Rasheed, that he had joined the Accord Party.

The governor revealed he had registered with the party on November 6, 2025—weeks before his public resignation—and would contest his second-term bid on its platform in August 2026.

He explained that the move came after extensive consultations with political stakeholders and opinion leaders, noting that he chose the Accord Party because its mission of welfarism aligns with his commitment to citizens’ and workers’ welfare.

On Wednesday, the governor emerged as the Accord Party’s candidate for the August 8, 2026, governorship election.

Adeleke, the only aspirant in the primary held in Osogbo, polled 145 votes out of 150 cast by delegates drawn from the state’s 30 local government areas.

Announcing the result of the primary, the Secretary of the electoral committee, Abdulazeez Salaudeen, said five votes were voided.

Olugbenga is a fine-grained journalist with over nine years of experience. He loves the smell of a good lead and has a penchant for finding out interesting good reports.

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