The Osun State chapter of the All Progressives Congress has rejected claims that the Presidency is pressuring Governor Ademola Adeleke to defect to the party, describing the allegation as “illogical, fabricated, and stage-managed.”
The party was reacting to comments attributed to former Osun State Governor, Olagunsoye Oyinlola, who during an interview on Arise News Prime Time, claimed that Adeleke had confided in him about facing pressure from the Presidency to join the APC.
In a statement issued on Wednesday by its Director of Media and Information, Kola Olabisi, the Osun APC dismissed the claim, insisting that there had been no attempt by the party or the Presidency to coerce the governor into defecting.
The party further alleged that overtures by Adeleke to join the APC in the past were unsuccessful, adding that the governor’s alleged claims, as relayed by Oyinlola, were an attempt to gain sympathy.
“It is in the public domain that all efforts by Governor Adeleke to join our party did not succeed,” the statement said, adding that the narrative of pressure from the Presidency was “a mere fabrication.”
The APC also challenged Adeleke to name individuals allegedly mounting such pressure, questioning the credibility of the claim and describing it as inconsistent with political realities.
According to the party, there has been no record of any governor being coerced into joining the APC, stressing that the allegation “defies logic” and should be disregarded by the public.
The statement further dismissed any attempt to link the APC to internal challenges within the People’s Democratic Party in Osun State and across the country.
The controversy follows Oyinlola’s televised remarks suggesting that Adeleke had, at some point, expressed distress over alleged political pressure, a claim that has now drawn sharp rebuttal from the APC.
