Adeleke Denies Visit To Tinubu Was Over Defection

OSUN State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, has dismissed insinuations linking the recent visit of the Adeleke dynasty to President Bola Tinubu in Lagos to any planned defection from the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC), even as the state chapter of the ruling party said its 2026 governorship ticket was not for sale.
Recalled that pictures of the governor, his elder brother, Dr. Deji Adeleke, and nephew, David Adeleke, popularly called Davido, visit to Tinubu in Lagos State on Tuesday, June 3, went viral on the Internet, suggesting that the governor was seeking to dump his party, as has become the trend in the last few months.
But his spokesman, Olawale Rasheed, in a statement, said talks of defection were just media speculation, insisting the visit was just a courtesy call on the President.
He stated: “The media speculation about likely or imminent defection is fake news. Governor Adeleke remains a member and leader of the PDP in Osun State.
“The visit by the Adeleke dynasty to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is a routine courtesy visit. Any reading of defection agenda into the visit is mere fake news.”
Meanwhile, former speaker of the state House of Assembly, Timothy Owoeye, stressed that APC’s ticket for next year’s governorship election was not for sale to anyone, more so as Adeleke was not a member of the party.
Owoeye stated: “I’m saying this categorically that the APC ticket is not for sale. As a matter of fact, as of today, we don’t see Adeleke as a member or part of the APC as a party. Let me be sincere with you: the APC in Osun is the party to beat.
“I want to tell you that if not for the fear of the unknown that is disturbing the Adeleke family and the PDP, they wouldn’t have been showing the intention of coming to the APC.
“Now that the Adeleke family has seen that their tenure is already terminated, come August 8, 2026, we are driving away the PDP from the Osun government, and we want to appeal to our people to remain calm.
“There is no space for PDP or Adeleke in the APC.”