In the land of bata beats and ballot games, Osun State’s governor is back in the headlines: not for his dance steps this time, but for a political choreography of a different sort.

Ademola Adeleke, the self-styled “dancing senator” turned governor, is facing swelling speculation that he’s ready to waltz out of the Peoples Democratic Party and into the arms of the All Progressives Congress. The move, observers say, could come with a princely gift: an automatic APC ticket for his 2025 re-election bid.

But the governor is having none of it.

“This is not in my plan,” he declared over the weekend, swatting away the rumours like a fly buzzing near a bowl of party jollof. Yet even as he speaks, the whispers grow louder. Within APC circles, high-ranking insiders continue to claim the move is only a matter of timing, not intent.

The defection drama comes as the PDP faces a slow-motion unravelling, with governors in Akwa Ibom and Delta already crossing party lines. Each exit delivers a fresh sting to Nigeria’s oldest surviving party. In Osun, the pressure is even more acute, given Adeleke’s populist appeal and the state’s political volatility.

Fuelling the intrigue was a cryptic social media post by former PDP lawmaker Wole Oke. Hinting at loyalty, mischief, and something vaguely prophetic, Oke made many not-so-subtle references to Adeleke, somehow advising him to stay put and fight like a man.

The APC, now firmly in control at the federal level, remains the political gravity centre. For embattled governors, it offers something the PDP increasingly cannot: shelter. Still, for now, Adeleke is tapping his feet in place. No steps forward, no turns. Just a promise: “I’m not going anywhere.”

But in Nigerian politics, a dance is rarely just a dance. And the music, it seems, has only just begun.