Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State has intensified consultations with cabinet members and political stakeholders amid growing defections from the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) to the All Progressives Congress (APC), particularly in Ogbomoso Zone.
The consultations, according to sources familiar with the development, have included closed-door meetings with members of his political circle and aggrieved party stakeholders at his residences in Ikolaba and Kolapo Ishola Estate, Ibadan.
The meetings followed the latest political blow to the governor’s camp, with his former Chief of Staff, Segun Ogunwuyi, leading 32 APM chieftains into the APC in Ogbomoso on Tuesday.
Ogunwuyi was joined by Rasak Gbadegesin, popularly known as Agbeti; Timothy Oyeniyi; Alabi Olateju; Banji Folaranmi; Isaiah Adegbite; Peter Oyetunji; and Jimoh Sikiru, chairman of the APM in Ogbomoso North Local Government Area.
Council secretaries, chiefs of staff, supervisory councillors and special assistants attached to the administrations of Ogbomoso North, Ogbomoso South, Surulere and Ogo-Oluwa local governments were also among those received by the APC.
The defectors were formally received at an APC rally in Ogbomoso, where the party said the new entrants would strengthen its structure ahead of the 2027 elections.
The development has compounded a series of resignations and political departures from the Makinde administration in recent months.
On November 2, Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning, Ayobami Oluwaseun Ojo, resigned with immediate effect without publicly stating a reason.
The ministry’s Special Adviser, Simeon Adegbola Oyeleke, also resigned the same day, citing an unconducive working environment and difficulties representing the aspirations of his people within the administration.
Sunday Olugbenga Falana, a member of the Oyo State Independent Electoral Commission (OYSIEC), also resigned, while Tara Adefope, Director-General of the Due Process Office, left the administration.
Other prominent figures previously associated with Makinde’s political structure who have departed include former Deputy Governor Taofeek Arapaja, Governor’s Advisory Council chairman Hosea Agboola, popularly known as Alleluyah, and Bisi Olopoeniyan.
Agboola and Arapaja have subsequently moved into the APC camp.
Makinde has also lost key political strategists, including former Political Adviser Babatunde Oduyoye and former Special Adviser on Security, Fatai Owoseni.
Oduyoye left the administration in July, while Owoseni resigned in May.
Against this backdrop, sources said Makinde has been seeking the views of remaining loyalists on how to halt further defections and stabilise the political structure supporting his 2027 succession project.
According to one source, the governor expressed concern over the possibility of additional defections and asked participants what could be done to retain those still within the APM structure.
The source claimed some participants attributed the crisis partly to Makinde’s decision to back former Commissioner for Finance, Abimbola “Bimbo” Adekanmbi, as the APM governorship candidate for 2027.
Makinde publicly endorsed Adekanmbi in May, describing him as his preferred successor.
Adekanmbi was subsequently affirmed as APM’s consensus governorship candidate.
However, claims that the defections have rendered the APM structure incapable of competing effectively in 2027 have been rejected by the governor’s camp.
Makinde’s current Chief of Staff, Bashorun Akinwale Akinwole, said the defectors represented a minority and maintained that the APM retained substantial support in Ogbomoso.
Speaking at a meeting of the governor’s aides in Ibadan, Akinwole said the party was already repositioning itself and seeking to attract more members ahead of the election.
The latest defections nevertheless represent a significant challenge for Makinde as he prepares to leave the Oyo governorship in 2027 and pursue his presidential ambition under the APM platform.
With APC already positioning itself to regain control of Oyo State, the ability of Makinde to retain his political structure and successfully transfer his influence to Adekanmbi is proving to be a Herculean task.
