By Ayomide Otitoju
Six members of the House of Representatives from Oyo State have defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the Allied Peoples Movement (APM), in what appears to be a political realignment in support of Governor Seyi Makinde.
The defections were announced during plenary on the resumption of the House of Representatives after the Sallah break, with Speaker Tajudeen Abbas reading out the lawmakers’ official letters of defection.
Governor Makinde had joined the APM weeks earlier and was subsequently endorsed as the party’s presidential candidate for the 2027 general elections.
According to the letters, Anthony Adebayo Adepoju (Ibarapa North), Adedeji Stanley Olajide (Ibadan North-West/Ibadan South-West), Makanjuola Sunday Ojo (Ogo-Oluwa/Surulere), Najimdeen Oyeshina Oyedeji (Iseyin/Itesiwaju/Kajola/Iwajowa), Folajimi Oyekunle (Ibadan North), and Abass Adekunle Adigun (Ibadan North-East/Ibadan South-East) all moved from the PDP to the APM.
In a separate development during the plenary, Speaker Abbas also read a letter confirming the defection of Minority Leader Kingsley Chinda from the PDP to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Following the announcement, Chinda stepped down as Minority Leader of the House.
Chinda, a known ally of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, recently secured the APC governorship ticket for Rivers State ahead of the 2027 elections.
