Two APC leaders, 6,000 members defect to PDP in Kwara ahead of 2027
- Former senator Simeon Sule Ajibola and ex-APC elders forum chair James Bamisaye Ayeni led the defection in Ekiti Local Government Area.
- The defectors, drawn from all 10 wards, were received by PDP's Kwara South senatorial chairman Justus Sayo Amos.
- Ayeni cited marginalisation and neglect of Kwara South, while Ajibola pledged to back the PDP structure under Bukola Saraki.
About 6,000 members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti Local Government Area of Kwara State have left the party for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), according to reports from ThisDay and The Sun.
The defectors include Simeon Sule Ajibola, a former three-term senator for Kwara South, and Chief James Bamisaye Ayeni, immediate past chairman of the APC Kwara South Elders Forum. The ceremony was held at an event ground opposite Amodu Filling Station in Osi town, and the group said its members came from all 10 wards of the council area.
The move comes ahead of the 2027 general elections, as political alignments across the state continue to shift.
Why they left
Ayeni said the decision followed wide consultations among grassroots leaders. He said the group wanted a political alignment that could restore effective governance and fair representation in Kwara South.
We can no longer fold our arms and watch the systematic marginalisation and neglect of our people.
He said the defectors believe Kwara South deserves genuine development, integrity and internal party democracy, which he said had been lost under the present administration.
Ajibola, who was represented at the event by Tunde Fakayode, said he was aligning with the PDP structure led by former Senate President Abubakar Bukola Saraki. He pledged to use his political structures to return Ekiti Local Government Area and the entire Kwara South Senatorial District to the PDP in 2027.
Justus Sayo Amos, the PDP Kwara South senatorial chairman, welcomed the new members and said the realignment would bring good governance and effective representation to the state.
PDP chieftain Gbenga Awoyale also weighed in, saying the APC's reconciliation committee had acted too late to stop the wave of defections.
What happens next
The defection shifts local political weight in Kwara South, a district the PDP is now openly targeting. For ordinary residents, the practical test will be whether the promises of development and inclusion translate into visible projects and services in the area before the 2027 elections.
The APC has not responded to the claims in these reports.
