By Oyez Olatunde Rex (Ilorin)
Kwara State witnessed a political tremor on Saturday as Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, National Secretary of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and former Minister of Interior, stormed Ilorin to commission the party’s new state secretariat amidst wild jubilation and heavy turnout from party loyalists.
The event, which drew an electrified crowd from across the state, was attended by several political heavyweights who accompanied Aregbesola in what many described as the formal unveiling of a “new force” in Kwara politics.
Aregbesola’s visit to the state was not merely ceremonial; it was a strategic show of solidarity and strength, as he met with top Kwara stakeholders led by former Governor Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed and the ADC’s National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi.
The highlight of the event, however, was the defection drama that shook the opposition camp. The immediate past Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Kwara State, Alhaji Babatunde Muhammed, officially dumped the PDP for the ADC, describing his decision as a move “guided by conscience and the hunger for true change.”
The defection has sent shockwaves through the PDP structure in the state, as party loyalists and grassroots supporters are said to be realigning with the ADC, which many now see as a credible and untainted alternative ahead of 2027.
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Speaking at the unveiling, Aregbesola urged the people of Kwara and Nigerians at large to reject corrupt, recycled leadership and embrace a new era of political responsibility.
“The ADC stands for the people and we are here to give Nigerians hope again,” he declared to loud cheers from the crowd.
Observers say the ADC’s surge in Kwara represents a major crack in the old political order, signaling what may soon become a wider regional realignment across the North Central zone.
With the PDP losing its key figures and the APC facing internal strife in the state, the ADC appears set to position itself as a third force capable of reshaping Nigeria’s political direction.
For many Kwarans, Aregbesola’s visit did not just open a party secretariat, it opened a new political chapter, one that could redefine the state’s leadership narrative in the years ahead.
