Legal icon and politician of note, Asiwaju John Adeniyi Farinto, has not joined the All Progressives Congress (APC), his loyalists across the state have declared.
The clarification is coming against the backdrop of a video in which an Ibadan Chief, Engr Dotun Sanusi, claimed that the Olive Chamber is now with the APC Candidate, Sarafadeen Alli.
The loyalists maintained that their leader, Asiwaju Farinto, has not defected to the APC and that he remains committed to Governor Seyi Makinde, noting that a mere courtesy visit by Chief Sanusi should not have been wrongly presented as a defection.
They noted that Barr. Farinto is a reputable political leader with a high pedigree and political stature that cannot be reduced to a social media circus, stating that the renowned lawyer, former local government chairman and former Member of the Oyo State House of Assembly will never join any party through the social media.
The statement read: “Our attention has been drawn to a video by Chief Dotun Sanusi, purporting that our leader, Barr. John Adeniyi Farinto, the Asiwaju of Ijioland, has joined the APC.
“The claim is a lie and a joke taken too far. What simply took place was a friendly visit by Chief Dotun Sanusi, who paid a courtesy call on our leader at his Olive Chambers Office.
“Barr Farinto has been in the practice of mostly hosting his friends, associates and loyalists at the Law Office. That should not have been termed as a defection, because Barr Farinto knows how to separate his law business from his politics.
“Turning the harmless visit to a defection party was not Farinto’s doing; and members of the public must read between the lines and note that he didn’t make any comment as the show went on.
“For the avoidance of doubt, Asiwaju Farinto, as the leader of our great party in Oke Ogun and Iwajowa Local Government saw to the defection of hundreds of residents from APC, Accord and other parties to the APM on Thursday, October 8, 2026.
“An APC House of Assembly aspirant, Wasiu Shittu Olorunsetemi, among others led defectors to APM and it was with the knowledge of Barr. Farinto. So, how would anyone claim that the leader, who welcomed defectors with all his political children in attendance, has gone to APC, where he harvested hundreds of people from?
“As the saying goes that facts are sacred, we the political loyalists and followers of Asiwaju Farinto know that our leader has not joined the APC and we call on all teeming members of APM and lovers of our party to refrain from allowing themselves to be triggered into picking needless fights or arguments over the matter.”
