BY MAYOWA SAMUEL
The embattled Deputy Governor of Oyo State, Rauf Olaniyan, has dumped the People’s Democratic Party to join the All Progressives Congress.
Olaniyan announced his defection on Sunday at a press conference in Ibadan.
He stated that he remains the state’s Deputy Governor, adding that his defection doesn’t affect the relationship between him and Governor Seyi Makinde.
Explaining the reason for his defection, he said he was yielding to yearnings of his supporters who were tired of waiting after remaining afloat in the PDP, for a while.
He added that the defection did not affect his relationship with the state governor, Seyi Makinde, saying he remained on the same page with the governor regarding governance.
He maintained that he was not resigning as deputy governor.
His defection ended weeks of speculation about the deputy governor’s membership in the PDP.
There has been a rift between the governor and his deputy for more than a year, with leaders in the deputy’s camp accusing Makinde of breaching an agreement made before the last election that brought them in.
They also alleged that Makinde did not involve Olaniyan in the affairs of the state.
Olaniyan was a governorship aspirant in the African Democratic Congress before the party entered into an alliance with the PDP ahead of the 2019 election.
By virtue of the alliance, it was agreed that Olaniyan would drop his governorship ambition and become the running mate to Makinde.
In recent weeks, there had been reports that the deputy governor would leave the PDP but he recently debunked the rumours, stating that he would remain in the party.
A few days ago, Makinde replaced Olaniyan with Bayo Lawal as his deputy for the 2023 governorship election in the state.
