The running mate to Ladi Adebutu, 2023 governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in Ogun State, Abdulkabir Akinlade, and the then chairman of the party, Sikirulai Ogundele with their supporters have moved to the All Progressives Congress.

The political heavyweights were received at the party secretariat in Abeokuta, the state’s capital, on Thursday.

Barely a month back, Akinlade, commonly referred to as Triple A, in a statement, had explained that he left PDP following a “persistent and unresolved internal crisis” within the state chapter.

The former House of Representatives member and 2019 governorship candidate of the Allied People’s Movement had left the APC for the PDP in the build-up to the 2023 election to, alongside Adebutu, wrest the governorship seat from incumbent Governor Dapo Abiodun.

Speaking at the APC secretariat, Akinlade described the defection as a homecoming for all of them, insisting that thousands of both PDP and APM members had returned to the APC.

He said, “From where we were coming, once our leader speaks, that is all, he has said it all. That means that we have had our meetings at home, we are here as a team, and we are speaking with a voice.

“In addition, the PDP family and the APM family that I led out of this party about six years ago are all fully back in the party.

“We have sat down to work it together, we have met with Mr Governor and we have discussed and agreed that we are all moving back home en masse, not one person will be left behind by the grace of God.”

Ogundele, on his part, stated that with the defection, two-thirds of the PDP had moved to the ruling party.

He boasted that as the structural leader of the PDP in the state, only a handful of the party members would stay back after his move.

“When the drum rhythm changes, the dance steps must change.

“In Nigeria today the drum sound has changed and is the same in Ogun State. For a political strategist who is a veteran in this business, such a person must be forward-thinking and we have given this our thought and we have thought about it so rightly.

“We are not just decamping or defecting, but we are moving the entire structure of the PDP to the ruling party.

“I am the structural and strategic leader of that party and wherever I move to the structure of the party moves there,” he said.

He lauded the performance of both President Bola Tinubu and Governor Abiodun for what he called their impactful leadership.

“We have a lot to talk about but there is no time to do so. Our President is doing well and the same for Ogun State. The government of Prince Dapo Abiodun has been so impactful in this state,” he stated.