Dr. Wale Bolorunduro, who oversaw Osun State’s finances during the first term of former governor Rauf Aregbesola, declared on Wednesday that he was switching parties to the PDP.
Bolorunduro, a supporter of Aregbesola, engaged in a constant conflict with the Gboyega Oyetola administration, particularly over the state’s debt load and the decision to put some of the mega-schools constructed by the previous administration through an integrity test.
Speaking to reporters in Osogbo, where he revealed he had defected from the APC to the PDP, Bolorunduro claimed the current Osun State government had gone beyond redemption in terms of dishonesty, injustice, and a lack of fairness.
The former finance commissioner claimed that the APC’s state leadership had marginalized him to the point where he was not participating in any discussions about it, not even in his ward.
He stated that he did not leave the APC in order to receive political favors from his new party, and after consulting with his supporters and families, it was decided that he should join the PDP.
He said, “I have been in APC for eight years (after I left office) without any patronage, benefits or appointment, yet I worked for the party in the 2015 and 2019 federal elections. I can survive outside government and very well too.
“My records are there in Zenith Bank, where I pioneered different financing groups (upstream oil and gas, Telecom, power sector, infrastructure group) at different times, when God allowed me to conquer one front after another. My adrenalin is usually fired by new challenges.
“I have consulted widely with my followers, admirers, friends and families, who felt we should pitch our tent with the PDP, to join this party and to work with them to shine the light (Imole Osun). We would have done this before the 2022 gubernatorial election, but knowing ‘them’ it was better ‘to err on the side of caution’, for us to have today, tomorrow and future.”
