Senator representing Osun Central, Olubiyi Fadeyi, popularly known as Ajagunla, has said President Bola Tinubu was willing to grant him a return ticket to the Senate under the All Progressives Congress (APC), but the party’s leader in the state, Adegboyega Oyetola, opposed it.
Fadeyi, who was elected in 2023 on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, defected to the APC alongside Senator Francis Fadahunsi representing Osun East and three members of the House of Representatives from the state.
While Fadahunsi and the three federal lawmakers were given automatic return tickets, Ajagunla was not favoured. The APC ticket for Osun Central was instead won by former governorship aspirant and Osogbo-born lawyer, Kunle Adegoke, SAN.
Explaining what transpired during an interview on a private TV programme in Osogbo, Ajagunla said he made enquiries after the development and was told where the decision came from.
“I have to ask questions about why it happened, and they gave me a reason. The President wants me to return, but Oyetola, in his own wisdom, doesn’t want that,” the lawmaker said.
He noted that as the leader of the party in the state, Oyetola has the right to present his own strategy to the President on how to win elections.
“As a leader, he can come to Mr President and tell him this is what they want to do and what they feel they can do to get things,” he said.
Ajagunla linked the decision to political permutations, noting that certain local governments are considered crucial to electoral victory.
“In Osun State, there are local governments like Osogbo, Ede, Ife and Iwo that are very key to winning elections. Maybe he has his own permutations on how to win the election. Maybe I am from Ila-Orangun, and we don’t have the required votes,” he added.
Following the denial of the APC ticket, Ajagunla has returned to the PDP, where he has now clinched the party’s senatorial ticket for Osun Central.
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