With less than 48 hours to the Osun State governorship election, the Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Kolapo Alimi, has revealed that President Bola Tinubu asked Governor Ademola Adeleke to join the All Progressives Congress, APC, before the governor eventually moved from the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to the Accord Party.

Alimi made the disclosure on Thursday while appearing on Frontline, a current affairs programme on Eagle 102.5 FM, Ilese-Ijebu, in response to former Osun State Governor, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola’s criticism of Governor Ademola Adeleke’s decision to leave the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, for the Accord Party.

Oyinlola, who spoke on the programme on Tuesday, had accused Adeleke of failing to consult key stakeholders before defecting to Accord ahead of the state’s governorship election.

The commissioner's disclosure about the alleged request from Tinubu for Adeleke to join the APC comes as the President and the APC are seeking to reclaim Osun in Saturday's election. The APC has publicly maintained that Tinubu's support in the election is for its candidate, Bola Oyebamiji, rather than Adeleke.

“I’m saying this on radio now, there was a request by the president that Adeleke should join APC,” Alimi said.

The commissioner did not however disclose the specific circumstances or timing of the alleged request, but his claim comes against the backdrop of Adeleke's political realignment ahead of the August 15 governorship election.

However, he insisted that the claim could be traced to earlier discussions involving the governor and the APC.

Asked about the lack of consultation with PDP stakeholders, Alimi said the matter could not be separated from the longstanding disagreements between Adeleke and some of the party's senior figures in the state.

Alimi said the irony was that some of the PDP elders now critical of Adeleke's decision had themselves opposed the idea of the governor joining the APC.

He specifically named former governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola, former Osun PDP chairman, Fatai Akinmade and Tajudeen Olayiwola Oladipo.

According to him, the three figures had earlier opposed Adeleke's possible movement to the APC and advised him to consider Accord instead.

“They are part of the people. Ask anybody, Baba Oyinlola was the first one on radio who said, the only party that is safe for Adeleke to join is the Accord,” Alimi said.

He claimed that Oyinlola had linked Accord to former President Olusegun Obasanjo and advised Adeleke against joining other parties.

“He traced the issue of Accord to Baba Obasanjo, he said Adeleke should not go and join APGA,” Alimi said.

According to him, the former governor had also argued against Adeleke joining the APC because of the political identity associated with the party.

Alimi further claimed that Oyinlola and the other PDP elders had previously declared that they would not join the APC.

He added that Oyinlola had previously said that if joining the APC was the only option available to him, he would rather quit politics.

“Baba Oyinlola even said that if to join  APC is the only  option, he would rather quit politics.”

Alimi said the situation later became complicated when Adeleke's relationship with some of the PDP elders deteriorated further.

He traced the disagreement to the 2022 PDP governorship primary, when parallel primary elections were held in Osun.

According to him, some of the elders backed Dotun Babayemi against Adeleke, resulting in a prolonged legal battle that went from the Federal High Court to the Court of Appeal and eventually the Supreme Court.

“They did not support Adeleke in 2022, even in 2018. They supported one, Dr Babayemi, and the case was brought up to the Supreme Court,” he said.

Alimi said Adeleke's victory in the legal battles made it difficult for the two sides to reconcile fully. He alleged that efforts by some party leaders to persuade Babayemi to withdraw the litigation had failed.

“When Adeleke won all the cases, they could not reintegrate properly into the mainstream of the party,” he said.

According to the commissioner, the disagreement was therefore not simply about Adeleke failing to consult stakeholders before joining Accord.

He described it as an “old wound” dating back to the 2022 primary crisis.

He said a delegation comprising the deputy governor, himself, the Secretary to the State Government and the Speaker of the state House of Assembly had visited Oyinlola at his home in Okuku to discuss the grievances. According to him, Oyinlola explained his grievances and indicated that he expected Adeleke to personally visit him.

Alimi said the delegation subsequently learnt that Oyinlola had adopted an APC candidate, describing the development as surprising given his earlier position on Adeleke joining the APC.

“About three weeks after, we just heard that Baba Oyinlola has adopted APM candidate in Osun,” he said.

“We thought it was a joke, maybe Baba just wants us to come back the second time, only for us to just hear that those people that were kicking against Adeleke going to APC, they are now the ones who are going to adopt an APC candidate.”

Alimi also rejected the claim that Adeleke had failed to consult the elders because of a deliberate disregard for them.

He said the governor and his associates had made efforts to reconcile with the party leaders but that the old disagreements had remained unresolved.

“This is not about consultation, it's about perhaps the whole wound has not properly healed,” he said.

The commissioner further defended Adeleke's record in office, arguing that some of his former critics had changed their assessment of the governor after seeing his performance.

He recounted an incident during a campaign where, according to him, a political leader who had previously criticised Adeleke publicly apologised to the governor. Alimi said the individual admitted that he had initially underestimated Adeleke's capacity to govern.

Alimi argued that the current opposition to Adeleke from some of the elders should therefore be understood in the context of the old political divisions rather than merely as a reaction to the governor's decision to leave the PDP.

He said Adeleke's decision to join Accord followed attempts to resolve the PDP crisis and the inability of the party's factions to reach an acceptable settlement.

The commissioner's disclosure about the alleged request from Tinubu for Adeleke to join the APC comes as the President and the APC are seeking to reclaim Osun in Saturday's election. The APC has publicly maintained that Tinubu's support in the election is for its candidate, Bola Oyebamiji, rather than Adeleke.

Alimi's claim that Tinubu personally asked Adeleke to join the APC could not be independently established from the interview, and the commissioner did not provide details of when or where the alleged request was made.

The revelation adds a new dimension to the political realignment ahead of Saturday's poll, particularly as Adeleke, now contesting under the Accord platform, faces the APC candidate in a contest in which President Tinubu's political influence in the state has become a major campaign issue.