Balogun Explains Why He Turned Down Makinde’s Offer For Senate Ticket

• Balogun has explained why he refused a senatorial ticket offered to him by Governor Seyi Makinde.

• The governor attempted to convince him to accept the ticket after he defected to the APC but he declined.

• Balogun stated that accepting the offer would subject him to public ridicule and that he had no regrets about joining the APC.

Eko Hot Blog Senator Kola Balogun, the representative of Oyo South at the National Assembly, has explained why he refused a senatorial ticket offered to him by Governor Seyi Makinde after he and the Peoples Democratic Party initially denied him the ticket.

During a live radio interview programme on Fresh FM in Ibadan, Balogun stated that the governor had attempted to convince him to accept the ticket shortly after he defected to the All Progressives Congress but he declined.

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This online media platform gathered that Balogun was denied the second term ticket which was given to Olasunkanmi Tegbe who lost the election to the APC candidate, Sharafadeen Alli in February 2023.

Balogun asserted that if he had accepted the offer, which came before the primary election that produced Tegbe, it would subject him to public ridicule as being a political prostitute in order to achieve his ambition.

He also noted that he had no regrets about joining the APC and that he would not have done anything differently if given another opportunity.

Balogun said that Makinde’s decision to deny him the ticket did not sit well with many senators in the Red Chamber, adding that senators were usually not on good terms with their governors but that he was an exception due to his close connection to Makinde.

“What you don’t know is that it was the most unexpected thing to happen, not just to me but to a lot of PDP members, leaders and followers because the governor and I were really very close and he was telling all those that cared to listen that there was no vacancy in Oyo South,” Balogun remarked.

After a while, following his departure from the party and the controversy surrounding whether Makinde was right or wrong, Balogun disclosed that the governor sent for him to come back and take the ticket before the primary election that produced Olasunkanmi Tegbe.

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Balogun refused, however, stating that he did not want the ticket anymore and that his life was not solely about being a senator.

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