Oyo PDP: Gbolarumi authentic guber candidate, mainstream structures firmly behind him – OPC leader, Adesina

By Seyifunmi Odunuga 

Former Oyo State Deputy Governor, Alhaji Hazeem Gbolarumi, has been declared the sole legitimate and authentic gubernatorial candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state, with the party's foundational structures remaining fully intact behind his leadership.

This declaration was made over the weekend by the National Leader of the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC), Comrade Akinpelu Adesina, during an explosive, one-on-one interview with prominent broadcast journalist Peter Olasupo.

Comrade Adesina asserted that despite recent high-profile defections and internal friction, the mainstream structures of the Oyo PDP are firmly rooted behind Gbolarumi. He emphasized that Gbolarumi represents the genuine choice of the party's foundational members, who refuse to let the party machinery be hijacked by opportunistic elements.

According to the OPC leader, rival factions chose to mislead their followers out of a desperate desire to grab power, but Gbolarumi's authentic positioning remains unshaken. Adesina noted that parallel calculations from opposition figures were merely born out of unbridled anger after they failed to wrest control of the party from its rightful stakeholders.

In contrast to Gbolarumi’s stable grassroots baseline, Adesina fiercely criticized Ambassador Taofeek Oladejo Arapaja’s recent defection to the All Progressives Congress (APC), describing the former Deputy Governor as a "political parasite" and an executive "stooge" whose exit is a good riddance that clears the path for the PDP's authentic leadership.

Adesina told Olasupo that any politician who willingly functions as a mere tool or "machinery" for an incumbent administration automatically forfeits the moral right to independent political leadership. He alleged that Arapaja’s recent high-ranking positions within the PDP hierarchy were entirely sponsored and bankrolled by Governor Seyi Makinde, who eventually rubbished and dismissed him.

To highlight the contrast in grassroots weight between the foundational PDP structure and the defectors, the OPC chieftain pointed out that during the recent local government selections, Arapaja could not secure anything beyond four councilors in the entire South East Senatorial District, while the governor single-handedly handpicked the council chairmen.

The OPC leader also severely criticized Arapaja's political pedigree, reminding the public that his entire career was built on the unmerited benevolence of the late strongman of Ibadan politics, Alhaji Lamidi Adedibu, describing it as a political "scholarship." He bitterly rebuked the former ambassador for turning his back on his roots and failing to visit the Adedibu household since the patriarch passed away, while also slamming his hypocritical alignment with Sarfa Ali.

Dismissing Arapaja’s high-profile defection to the APC as the movement of a "dead weight" or a "dead chicken," the OPC leader warned that the defector will find no easy money or free rides in his new political home, as the APC environment requires rigorous grassroots mobilization before earning any patronage. He further alleged that Arapaja and his close associates have a notorious history of pocketing election logistics funds meant for hard-working grassroots members.

Adesina concluded the explosive chat by affirming that Ibadan belongs to all its citizens and cannot be held to ransom by political opportunists who cannot deliver votes in their own local constituencies, advising the defectors to be humble and accept that the PDP remains secure under Gbolarumi's authentic leadership.