A large number of members of the Peoples Democratic Party in Ondo State have moved to the All Progressives Congress, declaring their support for President Bola Tinubu’s 2027 re-election bid.
The defectors, who are grassroots political mobilisers from all 18 local government areas of the state, said they could no longer remain in what they described as the “crisis-ridden” PDP, arguing that the party’s leadership had become weak.
The group, made up of PDP members who also belong to the National Union of Road Transport Workers, said their decision was influenced by President Tinubu’s economic policies and ongoing federal infrastructure projects across the state.
Speaking on behalf of the decampees under the Asiwaju Transport Movement on Tuesday, Mr Ojo Adewole praised President Tinubu for what he called the restoration of Nigeria’s “lost glory” through the Renewed Hope Agenda.
He highlighted several federal road projects, including the dualisation of the Benin–Ilesa Expressway, the expansion of the Ore–Ondo–Akure road, the Akure–Ado-Ekiti Expressway, and the ongoing coastal highway, as major factors behind their switch.
“We were encouraged to join the APC by our Minister, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo. We thank him for the opportunity given to us, and we will not disappoint him nor the party,” he said.
Adewole added that the continuation of road projects started under the former President Muhammadu Buhari administration reassured them that President Tinubu remained committed to national development.
He also pointed out that the only PDP federal lawmaker from Ondo State, Hon Festus Akingbaso, alongside the last three PDP members in the state House of Assembly, had recently joined the APC, leaving the state “virtually a one-party system.”
At the APC Secretariat in Akure, the state party chairman, Engr Ade Adetimehin, received the defectors and urged them to help secure a landslide victory for President Tinubu in 2027.
“This is the party of victory. In the APC, we don’t discriminate – there are no old members or new members; we are all equal,” Adetimehin said.
He noted that President Tinubu’s performance had continued to attract more supporters to the ruling party.
“President Tinubu has done well for us in this state. We can all see what he is doing. His Renewed Hope Initiatives are favouring us.
“Work has begun on new road projects in Ondo State, and our people are being given appointments. So, we must work hard to give him a landslide victory here,” he added.
