PDP candidate abandons 2027 ticket, joins Oyo APC

The candidate of the People’s Democratic Party for the Ibadan North-East State Constituency 2 in the 2027 general elections, Hammed Ademola, and an Accord aspirant in the same constituency, Adedapo Ojo, on Friday, led over 3,000 supporters to join the All Progressives Congress in Oyo State.

In a statement made available to Saturday PUNCH, Ademola, popularly known as Lucky, stated that his decision to abandon his PDP ticket was driven by political realities in the state.

“I did my due diligence and realized that any ticket outside the APC is a mere tissue paper that cannot take a candidate anywhere in 2027.

“We are here in our hundreds to join the APC formally, and we promise to do our best in the interest of the progressive party and our dear country, Nigeria,” Ademola said.

On his part, Ojo described Accord as a political distraction and urged voters to align with the APC.

“We thought about making Accord a credible alternative in the state, but we later realized that the APC was far ahead of other parties.

“We wasted our time, energy and resources on an unproductive exercise. We later realized it wasn’t worth it, so we decided to pitch our tent with the progressive party,” Ojo said.

Receiving the defectors, the Chairman of the APC in Oyo State, Chief Moses Alake-Adeyemo, assured the new members of equal opportunities and urged them to work for the party’s victory in the 2027 general elections.

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Also speaking, the governorship candidate of the APC in Oyo State, Senator Sharafadeen Alli, promised to run an inclusive administration if elected in 2027.

“It is a thing of joy that reasonable individuals are abandoning their parties to join the APC at a time like this.

“The hope is getting brighter every day, and it is now important for us to prepare because Oyo State deserves the best from May 2027,” he said.

Alli assured civil servants and pensioners of prompt payment of salaries and allowances, while promising to establish standard ICT hubs across Ibadan, Oke-Ogun, Ogbomoso, Oyo, and Ibarapa before January 2029.

He added that his administration would ensure all 33 local government councils in the state are equipped with functional general hospitals.

The event was attended by the APC deputy governorship candidate, Adesoji Adedeji, and the Oyo South Senatorial candidate, Aderemi Oseni, among other party leaders.