Less than two months to the governorship election in Ondo State, one of the aspirants on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Olusola Oke, may defect to the Action Alliance (AA) to fly the party’s flag on November 26.
This indication emerged at the weekend as his protege, Mr. Yinka Orokoto, emerged as the AA candidate.
Freedom Online learned that if the crisis in the APC is not resolved, Oke will defect to AA to realise his ambition.
“The arrangement is for Orokoto to step down for him any moment from now”, said a source.
Initially, Orokoto and Chief Ojo Fakorede were bidding for the ticket but after a meeting in Akure last Monday, it was agreed that Fakorede should step down for Orokoto.
Oke was the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) during the 2012 election.
During the APC primaries on September 3, he came third after the winner, Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN) and Mr. Segun Abraham.
Many of the aspirants have kicked against the outcome of the primaries, arguing that the exercise was manipulated to favour Akeredolu.
In the build up to the primaries, Akeredolu was believed to be the candidate of the presidency while Abraham was believed to be supported by the National Leader of the party, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.
It is also believed that Abraham may defect to the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) to realise his ambition as his protege, Mr. Bola Aidi, has emerged as the candidate.
A UPN chieftain, who spoke with Freedom Online on condition of anonymity, said: “My brother, you know how the system works. I won’t reveal anything for now but if Abraham wants to realise his ambition on the platform of our great party, we will be very happy. You know our party belongs to the Yoruba Leader, Chief Obafemi Awolowo. If Abraham flies our party’s flag, he will defeat other candidates on November 26.”