• Ogun PDP affirms Ladi Adebutu won’t join coalition, but may offer support
• Ekiti ex-deputy governor resigns from PDP, to join ADC
• Oyebanji not sponsoring Tinubu, other endorsements, committee clarifies

The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Ogun State, yesterday, declared that it was not opposed to any coalition by opposition parties aimed at unseating the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the 2027 general elections.

However, the party clarified that its 2023 governorship candidate, Ladi Adebutu, would not defect to the emerging coalition but could support the alliance in his capacity as a party chieftain to ensure the APC’s defeat at both the state and federal levels.

The Ogun State PDP said that while it welcomes the opposition’s unity efforts, it has no intention of collapsing its structure into the coalition. Instead, the party affirmed its resolve to remain a distinct force while supporting credible efforts to dislodge the APC and end the current hardship faced by Nigerians.

The PDP’s Director of Media and Communication in Ogun State, Bankole Akinloye, in an interview, said the party remains unshaken despite recent defections, and is fully committed to any genuine effort to rescue the country.

Akinloye also reaffirmed Adebutu’s leadership within the party.

MEANWHILE, a former Deputy Governor of Ekiti State, Prof. Kolapo Olusola-Eleka, has resigned his membership of the PDP in the state.

Olusola-Eleka, who was the PDP’s governorship candidate in the 2018 election, disclosed this in a letter addressed to his Okeruku Ward 2 Chairman in Ikere-Ekiti, Ikere Local Council of the state.

In the letter, Olusola-Eleka while appreciating the PDP for the opportunity to serve the state, lamented that the party has failed to provide a platform for credible opposition and leadership in the country.

However, it was gathered that Olusola-Eleka might join the coalition platform, the African Democratic Congress (ADC), today (Friday).

IN another development, the President Bola Tinubu and Governor Biodun Oyebanji Statewide Endorsement Committee has denied that the governor is bankrolling his numerous endorsements all over the state, saying that those endorsing him are doing so of their own free will.

Chairman of the committee, Abiodun Aluko, who spoke yesterday in Ado-Ekiti, during a media briefing on the preparation for the statewide endorsement of Tinubu and Oyebanji, slated for Monday, July 28, 2025, said the endorsements were people-driven affirmations of the transformative leadership of Tinubu and Oyebanji.

“President Tinubu remains a strong pillar of democratic stability and national development, and it is only fitting that this programme provides an opportunity to express our collective endorsement and appreciation.

“We equally celebrate the sterling achievements of our own governor, Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji. In less than three years, Oyebanji has demonstrated uncommon focus, humility, and effectiveness in governance.”

Also speaking at the briefing, the Commissioner for Information and Value Orientation, Taiwo Olatunbosun, said that the governor had not deployed any kobo of his resources either as governor or as a private individual for his endorsements because “he knows that the moment he does that, he will be seen as buying his endorsement.