About 2,000 members of the governing All Progressives Congress (APC) in Oyo city, on Wednesday evening, dumped the party for thAfrican Democratic Congress (ADC), citing among others, the non-completion of all state government projects in the zone and hijack of the party as reasons.
The defectors, led by Mudashiru Dolapo Bello and Muyideen Hamzat, were received into ADC at a rally in L.A Primary School, Idi Ope, by the party’s candidates in the zone led by Senator Monsurat Sunmonu, Honourable Gbenga Oyekola, Muyideen Olagunju Alatede, Maroof Akinwande and senatorial executives and leaders of the party and others.
Bello, speaking with TribuneOnline, said APC in Oyo had been hijacked by a few people who are members of the SENACO group, adding that impunity had replaced internal democracy and orderliness in the APC.
He explained that there was nothing to show for the people of Oyo as evidence of their being in APC for almost eight years, as none of the projects the APC government said it would execute in Oyo Federal Constituency comprising four local government councils had been completed.
He noted that the Atiba F.M Radio station, the Owode-Ojogbondu and Owode-Aafin roads, the 1 billion silo project in Awe had all been abandoned by the state government, expressing sadness that the radio project had not been started at all.
“APC has been hijacked. Since there is freedom of association, we joined ADC yesterday. The people in ADC are largely those we were together in APC. They are people who believe in the politics of inclusiveness.
“We joined ADC because it is a party that enjoys the popular wish of the people. We did not hear of any rancour in ADC in Oyo zone during the nomination of candidates,” he said.
Speaking on the development, Honourable Oyekola, representing Atiba State Constituency, commended Bello and Hamzat for joining ADC, describing them as big fishes in the politics of not just Oyo but also the state.
“They said they were tired of APC because the party and its government are deceitful. They accused the party of using the sole administrator style. They said dividends of democracy did not circulate among members, that only a segment was being taken care of neglecting the majority of party members.
“Atiba Radio which the government said it would do has turned out to be deception. The road being dualised in Oyo for almost eight years was yet to be completed and the quality of the road was bad compared to the quality of the roads in other zones of the state. The bad quality was even being done piecemeal.
“The only tertiary institution that supports the local economy in Oyo, Emmanuel Alayande, has been operating epileptically as a result of irregular and outright non-payment of salaries.
“The roads leading to farms and inner cities roads were neglected by the local government councils and when all the legislators in Oyo Federal Constituency led by Senator Monsurat Sunmonu contributed money and brought bulldozers to grade these roads and make them motorable.
“The council chairmen went to stop them and claimed they did so orders from the state government. They could not do these roads and we took the initiative to grade these roads,” Oyekola said.
