Facts have emerged on why Governor Seyi Makinde is withdrawing the Oyo South senatorial ticket from Senator Kola Balogun, who is a sibling of the Olubadan of Ibadan land, Oba Lekan Balogun.
Newspeakonline gathered from sources close to the governor that he is not satisfied with the senator’s performance. Makinde is said to believe that Balogun should have performed better in the last three years, having defeated a sitting governor in the late Abiola Ajimobi in the 2019 election. The governor believes that Senator Balogun should have used his position to personally raise the popularity of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the district which cuts across Ibadan and Ibarapa.
Inside sources also disclosed that Makinde believes that Balogun is not well entrenched in the party, having been invited from the APC shortly before the last election. The governor, it was learnt, believes that Balogun has failed to establish himself among party leaders and members across the district in spite of being a sitting senator.
Another reason the governor is withdrawing his ticket is the need to poach a strong contender in the APC as a way of diminishing the strength of the opposition party ahead of the next election. Makinde’s reasoning is that it is better to add to the strength of PDP as done in 2019 by poaching one of the leading governorship aspirants in the APC to increase the chances of the the PDP in the coming election.
To achieve this, the governor has embraced Joseph Tegbe, who he believes is also willing to fund his election since he is desperate to win.
As of Monday evening, the governor was said to have met all aspirants in the party where he announced that the lead contender for Balogun’s ticket, Dr Nureni Adeniran, has stood down for Tegbe. He was also said to have assured all aspirants to House of Representatives that he would do everything to get consensus candidates instead of going for primary.
SOURCE: NEWSPEAK
