Oyintiloye Urges Opposition To Fix Crisis Within Party, Says APC Not Responsible For Defections

A chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun, Olatunbosun Oyintiloye, has advised opposition parties to fix the problems within their folds instead of blaming President Bola Tinubu for the recent influx of defections to the ruling party.

Oyintiloye argued that while the decision to change parties is not new in Nigeria, recent defections are due to ideological persuasion and not coercion, as speculated in some quarters.

Oyintiloye, who was a lawmaker, made the call while speaking with journalists on Sunday in Osogbo, the state capital.

He asserted that the opposition parties were witnessing mass defections of members due to unresolved internal wranglings over the years.

According to him, “The defectors claimed that they were been side-lined, undermined, unfairly treated by their former parties, leaving them with no option but to switch to a party with a sustainable transformation agenda.

“This season of political recalibration that is leading to growing number of Nigerian politicians defecting en masse to APC is an indication that the party is well structured to transform the country through the ‘Renewed Hope Agenda’ of the President.”

Oyintiloye, who predicted more defections from the opposition parties, especially the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), advised them not to blame the President for lack of cohesion in managing their internal affairs.

The former lawmaker also said that the impression in some quarters that the wave of defections of members of the opposition parties to APC could lead to one party system was not correct.