Tag: Wole Oke

Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs, Oluwole Oke (APC, Osun) said on Friday that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu remains the most civil and tolerant President Nigeria has ever had.

Oke, who represents Obokun/Oriade Federal Constituency in the House, said despite opposition from all angles, including within his party and geo-political zone, the President has remained unwavering in his respect for fundamental human rights of Nigerians.

Oke said in a statement in Abuja that despite criticisms from opposition parties, within the APC, and even from the President’s own southwest base, no one has been harassed or persecuted, a sharp departure from past administrations.

The Osun lawmaker applauded the President’s economic courage in removing petroleum subsidy, describing it as a decisive move that broke the grip of entrenched interests and ensured that public revenues now get to the federation account and are fairly distributed in line with the Constitution.

Read Also: Second anniversary: Buratai applauds Tinubu’s economic policies

While saying, “This is the essence of fiscal federalism,” Oke praised the administration’s commitment to youth empowerment, citing the establishment of the Students Loan Fund and the unprecedented number of young Nigerians appointed into ministerial and MDA leadership roles.

He said, “No other Nigerian President has matched this feat”.

He acknowledged President Tinubu’s successful diplomatic engagements, including securing a $2.5 billion agricultural investment from Brazil and restoring Nigeria’s international credibility, as reflected in the country’s removal from the IMF debtor list.

He said further that the President’s commitment to peace, support for traditional and religious leaders, non-interference in the operations of anti-corruption agencies, and ongoing reforms in the security architecture were also highlighted as marks of visionary leadership.

“Security is a shared responsibility,” Oke emphasised, urging citizens to support ongoing efforts to secure the nation. He further noted that Nigerian workers have received wage increases under President Tinubu’s watch.

“On all fronts, economy, rights, education, diplomacy, security, and governance, Mr. President has delivered and continues to lead with courage and compassion. He is truly the father of a new Nigeria,” Oke said.

The member representing Oriade/Obokun federal Constituency of Osun State, at the House of Representatives, Hon. Oluwole Oke, has broken silence on his decision to dump the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC)

Oke said his move was inspired not by financial gain, but by his admiration for President Bola Tinubu’s pragmatic and progressive leadership style.

He noted that he chose to align himself with Tinubu’s mentees, many of whom he described as accomplished figures in their respective fields.

The lawmaker also praised the president’s Nigeria First Policy and commended bold economic reforms such as the removal of fuel subsidy and the floating of the naira, implemented shortly after Tinubu assumed office on May 29, 2023.

The Nation recalls that, Oke, who also chairs the House Committee on Public Accounts, formally announced his defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the APC on April 23, 2025. 

Speaking while featuring on “Frontline”, a current affairs programme on Eagle 102.5 FM Ilese-Ijebu on Wednesday, the lawmaker further cited internal crises and a breakdown in leadership within the PDP as his primary reason for leaving the party he once helped to build.

In the wave of defection, on Tuesday, May 5, 2025, the political landscape shifted significantly when all members of the Delta State House of Assembly and six federal lawmakers from the state defected to the APC, a move that has been widely described as a devastating blow to the PDP’s standing in the region. 

This follows earlier defection of the state Governor Sheriff Oborevwori and former Governor Ifeanyi Okowa from the PDP to the APC.

Read Also: PDP loses three more federal lawmakers to APC

Oke, however dismissed speculations that his move and similar defections in Delta State were motivated by financial inducements, insisting such claims were unfounded and untrue.

In response to the state of his former party, PDP, as an opposition before his defection, Oke said;

“In respect to the leadership of PDP as it is today, they have failed totally, to manage that party that we suffered, we labored to build for these years. How did we get there? We caused it: we were not just being strategic, we didn’t plan, we planned to fail and we failed. 

“I don’t discuss members of my political family, those that we’ve had cause to work together, I don’t discuss them in the public. I’m not trained to do so. But, you know it is very clear that, that party is in the mud. Perhaps, there maybe a miracle. It may wake up in 2028.

“I’ll just put it simply that, my former party internal mechanism is not working and the party is fractured. It’s like a divorce. It’s like the marriage. It has broken down, it has become irretrievable. That’s the way I’ll put it”, he said.

Meanwhile, Oke, the six-term legislator stated that his 18 years as a lawmaker have given him deep insight into the inner workings of Nigerian politics, adding that his decision to join the APC was a strategic move to better position himself to deliver dividends of democracy to the people he represents.

While several quarters have labeled him among other recent troupe of defectors, unloyal politicians looking for political survival, he further claimed to have joined the ruling party because, he wants to get his youths in his constituency empowered and to fix infrastructure decaying, stating that these could be seen as good incentives, in place of the acclaimed financial inducements.

The lawmaker was earlier rumoured to have been nursing a governorship ambition, however, in a previous press briefing, he cited the need to support a Yoruba president and the refusal of Osun state governor, Ademola Adeleke, to fix decaying infrastructure in his federal constituency made him quit the PDP.

…says PDP will not get 1,500 votes from communities in his constituency in 2026

The lawmaker representing Obokun/Oriade Federal Constituency, Hon. Oluwole Oke, has explained that he quit the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) because of poor leadership at both the national and state levels.

Speaking on Rave FM’s Frank Talk programme in Osogbo, Oke declared that the PDP would struggle to secure even 1,500 votes from communities in his constituency in the next Osun State election.

He accused the state government under Governor Ademola Adeleke of deliberately sidelining his constituents from the dividends of democracy, which he said was a major factor in his decision to leave the party.

Oke noted that his defection was necessary to attract the attention of the federal government overnment to the needs of his constituency.

According to him, “I decided to leave PDP, I was part of the foundation member, I have been in the party, contested elections, won them back to back…having made consultation with my people, constituents, in the last two weeks, I have held series of meetings to appraise the situation of our party at the National level, state and local government, Ward and unit, we came to the realisation that it is time to quit. 

“There are issues why I quit and it is because of the growth and development of my constituents and constituency. I won elections in the past simply because I was able to generate employment for our youths, do a lot of projects for our people, but for how long would you continue to feed your enemy, for how long would the federal government continue to feed their enemies at their own detriment, so the growth and development of my constituency and constituents are major reason for me to want to partner with the federal government.”

He added, “Don’t forget that the president is our father, uncle and we can’t allow him to be in government without supporting him, I want to draw your attention, to recent he established a Federal institution in Iragbiji, what is the distance from the local government to Obokun, as a matter of fact the site of the institution is behind my community, so imagine the downstream opportunities to our people.

“I sponsored a bill to set up Federal College of Agriculture in Ijebu Jesa, the bill went all through, why would you empower the enemy, but it was not assented. I have also proposed that our late Sage, Uncle Bola Ige be honored, how would it see the light of the day, would you empower your enemy? These are the issues and many more.

“Is it wrong for me, three out of four years of Governor Ademola Adeleke to say my leader, my governor please look at the situation of infrastructural decay in Obokun/Oriade.

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“Go to Esa-Oke, look at the road linking Imesi Ile and Oke-Imesi Ile, look at the road linking Ijebu Jesa to Iwoye to Esa-Odo, Ilare, Otan, Ere, Ilahun, Ada Owode, Ibokun, Ada, Ipetu Jesa, Ikeji Ile, to Ikeji Arakeji, Ira, Ogotun, these are all the roads that our people use to bring their farm produce, these roads are bad. 

“I cried over the poor state of the roads. These are the roads I used to blackmail the APC for PDP to get votes in 2018 and 2022. The last time the road was rehabilitated was during Baba Akande’s government in 1999, we are human beings not animals, it is not too much to ask, why should we be left behind. The issue is that my constituency has been sidelined by Adeleke’s government. 

“Anybody they see associating with me is their enemy so instead of having altercation with the governor I decided to quit, he is a king and if you don’t allow the king to rule the way he wanted, you will be his footstool.”

Speaking about national leadership of his former party, he said “In PDP over years there four key states that finances our party and election, where are they ? Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Delta and Bayelsa go and check what is going on there. 

“Let us wait until we conduct our next election in Osun State, for example, PDP will not get 500 votes in Esa Oke our 9,000 votes, I can tell you categorically, in Owena, Ikeji Arakeji and others, PDP will struggle to get 1,000 if they are on the ballot. I can give you statistics.”