WorldStage– The Nigerian Senate witnessed a dramatic political turnaround on Thursday, July 23, 2026, as Senator Olubiyi Fadeyi, representing Osun Central Senatorial District, officially announced his defection from the All Progressives Congress (APC) back to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The political saga began roughly a year prior, in July 2025, when Senator Fadeyi, popularly known as “Ajagunla”, dumped the PDP alongside four other federal lawmakers to join the ruling APC.
At the time, Fadeyi claimed he crossed over in good faith to support President Bola Tinubu in his ancestral home. He also claimed to have done so based on high-level political assurances that he would secure an automatic ticket to run for re-election in 2027.
The senator also declared that he had emerged as the PDP’s candidate for the Osun Central Senatorial District ahead of the 2027 National Assembly election under the party faction led by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike.
“I am back in the PDP led by the FCT Minister, His Excellency, Nyesom Wike. I have already written to the Senate,” Fadeyi said.
“I can also confirm that I am the candidate for Osun Central Senatorial District for the 2027 Senate election.”
The drama reached a boiling point during the APC primary elections held in May 2026. While other defected lawmakers effortlessly secured their return tickets, Fadeyi was left out in the cold.
He was forced into a fiercely contested primary against Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Barrister Kunle Adegoke, which he ultimately lost.
Deeply embittered, Fadeyi rejected the primary outcomes. He publicly alleged that the entire process was a sham, claiming that no valid elections took place across the 116 wards of his district.
Instead, he accused party stakeholders of writing the results in a hidden hotel premises in Osogbo to deliberately rig him out.
Unable to reconcile with what he termed a severe breach of agreement and a lack of internal democracy, Fadeyi formally sent his resignation letter to Senate President Godswill Akpabio.
In the letter, Fadeyi expressed his total loss of confidence in the Osun State APC leadership, stating that “serious trust issues” had made his continued stay in the ruling party completely untenable.
In an intriguing twist that sent shockwaves through the National Assembly, Fadeyi did not just return to the PDP as an ordinary member, he proudly announced that he had already emerged as the confirmed 2027 senatorial candidate for Osun Central under the PDP faction loyal to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike.
Fadeyi took steps to clarify that his sudden exit from the ruling party was not an act of aggression or opposition toward President Tinubu or his Renewed Hope Agenda. Rather, he maintained it was a principled stance against the unfair treatment meted out to him by local party actors who chose to throw due process out the window.
The dramatic U-turn highlights the highly volatile, ticket-driven nature of contemporary Nigerian politics ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The senator rued that while other federal lawmakers who defected with him reportedly secured return tickets, he was denied the opportunity to contest under the APC platform despite earlier expectations.Fadeyi however cautioned against interpreting his decision to leave the APC as opposition to President Tinubu, stressing instead that it reflected his belief that political parties should uphold agreements, democratic principles, fairness and mutual trust in their internal processes.
