The Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Gboyega Oyetola, declared on Friday the All Progressives Congress (APC) would reclaim Osun State from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2026 governorship election in the state.

Oyetola stated this when he received a former PDP governorship aspirant in the state, Dotun Babayemi, and a former national deputy chairman of the party, Mr. Shuaibu Oyedokun, in Osogbo.

He urged APC members to welcome the defectors into the party without discrimination.

Oyetola, a former governor of Osun State, was defeated by Governor Ademola Adeleke in the July 16, 2022 governorship election in the state.

He said: “It is an irony that we lost an election over a year ago and there has been no major defection from the party. What we have is the reverse.

“It is the ruling party that is coming to us, which shows that APC remains a party to beat.

We have done so well, and people are starting to see that when it comes to governance, the Progressive knows how to.

“Alhaji Shuaibu and Dotun Babayemi were members of the APC but now they have seen the difference between progressive and conservative and they are back in to the party.”

In his remarks, the APC chairman in the state, Mr. Tajudeen Lawal, said Babayemi and other defectors would enjoy equal opportunity as old members.

“Your decision to defect into the APC is a wise choice which was influenced by God Almighty who has been your political pathfinder as the APC is a party of the people,’’ he said.

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