Member representing Ijebu North I Constituency in the Ogun State House of Assembly, Rasheed Kashamu, has defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Kashamu, the youngest member of the Assembly, is the son of late business mogul and former senator, Buruji Kashamu.
The lawmaker, who served as Deputy Minority Whip, announced his defection in a letter read by the Speaker of the House, Oludaisi Elemide, during plenary at the Assembly Complex, Oke Mosan, Abeokuta.
Reading the letter, Elemide said Kashamu formally notified the House of his resignation from the PDP and his decision to join the APC, citing crises at the national level and leadership tussles within the party at the state level as reasons for his defection.
“I consulted widely with my constituents, including stakeholders and traditional rulers, who gave me the go-ahead to announce my defection on the floor of the House,” Kashamu stated.
He said his decision to join the APC was informed by his desire to align with other progressives in the state to support the policies and programmes of Governor Dapo Abiodun, as well as President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
According to him, after reviewing the current state of affairs within the PDP, characterised by factionalisation and unresolved leadership crises, he and his supporters resolved to move en masse to the APC to sustain their winning formula in Ijebu North I and fully support the governor’s ISEYA Agenda and President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
Kashamu informed the House that he officially joined the APC at his Oke-Sopen Ward in Ijebu-Igbo, Ijebu North Local Government Area of Ogun State, alongside his supporters from across the constituency.
He was elected into the House of Assembly in the 2023 general election on the platform of the PDP, alongside eight other lawmakers.
With Kashamu’s defection, and that of Lukman Atobatele representing Abeokuta South I constituency, the number of PDP members in the Assembly has dropped from nine to seven.
