Barring any last-minute change, Taraba State Governor Agbu Kefas seems set to grow to be the most recent Peoples Democratic Social gathering governor to defect to the ruling All Progressives Congress after Enugu State governor, Peter Mbah on Tuesday made the same swap.
The transfer, which has been the topic of intense hypothesis in latest weeks, gained momentum after Kefas’ shut aides reportedly started consultations throughout the state and a youth group staged a rally in Jalingo on Tuesday, urging him to affix the APC.
Sources stated that the governor has constituted a committee co-chaired by former Senator Dahiru Bako to have interaction stakeholders and gauge public opinion forward of the attainable defection.
Senator Bako confirmed throughout one of many consultations that Kefas wouldn’t take such a step with out first looking for inputs from the individuals.
“The governor won’t make any political transfer with out listening to from the individuals and carrying them alongside. That’s the reason we’re assembly with them,” he stated.
The APC within the state has already declared readiness to obtain the governor, whilst some youth {groups} have continued to stage rallies urging him to affix. Nonetheless, the deliberate defection is claimed to have created stress amongst some APC stakeholders, notably these with political ambitions forward of the 2027 elections.
Sources stated many get together loyalists worry that if the governor strikes to the APC with PDP lawmakers and appointees, it might slender their possibilities of securing tickets within the subsequent election.
Efforts to achieve Kefas’ aides — Emmanuel Bello (Particular Adviser on Media and Digital Communications) and Josiah Kente (Particular Adviser on Political Issues) — have been unsuccessful as of the time of submitting this report. However PDP state chairman Alhaji Abubakar Bawa dismissed the hypothesis, describing the rally as an APC affair. He declined, nonetheless, to touch upon the committee’s actions.
Kefas’ reported transfer comes as Enugu State Governor Peter Mbah formally defected to the APC on Tuesday, taking alongside most PDP political workplace holders and buildings within the state, a growth that strengthens APC’s foothold within the South East and weakens the PDP in its in any other case stronghold. Akwa Ibom State governor, Umo Eno and Delta State governor, Sheriff Oborevwori made related swap earlier within the 12 months.
Like Delta State, Enugu, earlier than this defection had been a stronghold of the PDP with the get together producing all its governors for the reason that return to democratic governance in 1999.
Hypothesis can be rife that Bayelsa Governor Douye Diri and Zamfara Governor Dauda Lawal might observe swimsuit. Though Lawal has publicly denied such plans, sources near him say the choice stays on the desk and has not been utterly dominated out.
Diri, the one second-term PDP governor amongst these reportedly eyeing the APC, has been battling for management of the get together’s construction in Bayelsa. A faction loyal to FCT Minister Nyesom Wike is claimed to be laying declare to the construction, a state of affairs that, analysts be aware, might have made the APC extra enticing to him. With nearly all his South South colleagues now within the APC, besides the lately reinstated Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara, who can be rumoured to be contemplating the ruling get together, Diri’s choices throughout the PDP seem more and more slender.
Prior to now, Osun State Governor Senator Ademola Adeleke, who faces re-election subsequent 12 months, reportedly made an unsuccessful try to defect to the APC. Social gathering insiders within the state stated his transfer was resisted by some stakeholders who feared he deliberate to dominate the get together’s construction if admitted.
Observers consider the wave of defections, notably from the South South and South East, indicators President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s technique to consolidate his affect throughout southern Nigeria forward of the 2027 elections. This comes amid discontent over his administration’s insurance policies in components of the nation. At the moment, the APC controls three of the 5 South East states — Imo, Ebonyi and now Enugu — whereas Anambra, ruled by the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), has already endorsed Tinubu for re-election in 2027. Abia State, beneath the Labour Social gathering’s Governor Alex Otti, can be seen as pleasant to the Tinubu administration.
Within the South South, the APC controls 4 of six states — Edo, Delta, Cross River and Akwa Ibom — whereas Bayelsa and Rivers are the one remaining PDP strongholds. In Rivers, Wike, thought to be the state’s political chief, has publicly pledged to ship the state for Tinubu in 2027, simply as he did in 2023.
Throughout the South West, Tinubu’s residence area, the APC governs 4 of six states — Lagos, Ogun, Ekiti and Ondo. The PDP-led Osun authorities has already endorsed the president, whereas Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde, who backed Tinubu’s 2023 victory, stays within the PDP and is predicted to pursue the get together’s presidential ticket.
If Governor Kefas in the end joins the APC, he would grow to be the primary opposition governor from the North to take action beneath Tinubu’s administration. The event might pave the best way for related strikes in different northern states, together with Kano, the place Governor Abba Yusuf of the New Nigeria Folks’s Social gathering is reportedly weighing his choices. Political sources say Yusuf’s determination might depend upon whether or not negotiations to return his mentor, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, to the APC ultimately succeed.
Whereas the PDP has but to problem an official assertion on the most recent defection, former Senate President and Chairman of the get together’s Board of Trustees, Senator Adolphus Wabara, stated the motion of PDP governors to the APC vindicates his earlier warning that the ruling get together is pursuing an agenda to show Nigeria right into a one-party state, an allegation the get together and the presidency have denied on a number of events.
He accused the APC of masterminding a calculated marketing campaign to weaken opposition events.
Reiterating his warning that “a one-party state is a prelude to autocracy and retrogression,” the previous Senate President accused the ruling get together of “stifling democracy” and eroding the democratic good points achieved beneath previous PDP administrations.
“I noticed this coming. I raised the alarm, however was ignored. This isn’t the democracy we jealously nurtured and guarded — it is a corrupted model,” Wabara stated.
He stated the defections weren’t pushed by the APC’s ideology however by intimidation and manipulation. “The ruling APC believes in intimidating the opposition into submission. No democracy survives with out opposition. APC is killing Nigeria’s democracy by muzzling dissent,” he stated.
Wabara additionally accused the ruling get together of refusing to reform the electoral system to make sure credible elections, arguing that some opposition members are defecting out of worry. “That is extra of coerced defection than conviction,” he added.
In response to him, APC’s document in governance has didn’t justify the defections. “Nigerians know there’s nothing enticing within the APC. Since grabbing energy in 2015, it has presided over Nigeria’s retrogression. Poverty and hardship stay its legacies,” he stated.
He famous that PDP governors who had defected have been among the many better-performing ones however left to guard their political pursuits. “That just a few people have left doesn’t imply the individuals have left us. The PDP stays common as a result of Nigerians know we constructed and preserved this democracy,” Wabara said.
Equally, the African Democratic Congress accused the APC of luring opposition governors to understand its one-party state agenda.
Bolaji Abdullahi, the ADC Nationwide Publicity Secretary stated that the ruling get together has all the time harboured such ambitions. “The governors becoming a member of them will not be doing so out of conviction, however out of worry and greed,” he stated.
Abdullahi added that the ADC-led opposition coalition would quickly meet to take a typical place on the event. “We knew from day one which APC had been working in the direction of turning Nigeria right into a one-party state,” he stated. “These becoming a member of them are doing so out of desperation and have gotten a part of a conspiracy towards the Nigerian individuals.”
In the meantime, the Obidient Motion has dismissed considerations that the defections threaten its rising affect. Its Nationwide Coordinator, Dr Yunusa Tanko, stated the event solely reinforces Nigerians’ perception that “credibility and empathy have been thrown to the wind.”
“Folks have been coerced and manipulated, particularly these in energy. However this solely strengthens Nigerians’ resolve to liberate themselves from leaders who don’t care about them,” Tanko stated.
The Nationwide Publicity Secretary of the Abure-led Labour Social gathering faction, Obiora Ifoh, nonetheless, stated the get together was targeted on reconciling inner divisions and strengthening its buildings forward of future elections.
In his response, a member of the PDP Nationwide Government Committee, Timothy Osadolor, described Mbah’s defection as “a betrayal of belief,” urging others with related intentions to depart early so the get together can reorganise for 2027.
“Enugu individuals voted for Mbah due to the PDP platform. They’ll repay that betrayal in 2027 if he runs on one other ticket,” Osadolor stated.
He added that Mbah’s 2023 victory was attainable solely due to the PDP’s robust construction and warned that “there are penalties for each act of betrayal.”
“If he can openly violate the belief of the citizens and the Structure, he must be prepared for the individuals’s verdict. Even when the courts don’t meet up with him, the voters will in 2027,” Osadolor stated.
Nonetheless, Vice President Kashim Shettima has stated the wave of defections from opposition events to the ruling get together has uncovered the cracks throughout the opposition camp.
He stated whereas divisions have been widening within the ranks of opposition events, the APC continued to develop stronger via bridges of unity and inclusion.
Representing President Tinubu on Tuesday in Enugu through the grand reception of Governor Mbah, his cupboard, and supporters into the APC, Shettima described their defection as “a unprecedented endorsement of APC’s collective imaginative and prescient.”
“A lot has been stated concerning the ongoing wave of defections to our nice get together,” he stated. “What the opposition has didn’t do is look into the mirror to ask why the APC stays the popular vacation spot of Nigeria’s most visionary political actors.
“Their departures will not be accidents; they reveal the cracks within the partitions they constructed and the energy of the bridges we now have constructed. The APC has, through the years, grow to be a political residence the place concepts discover expression, ambitions discover path, and patriotism finds partnership,” he said.
The vp, nonetheless, famous that as President Tinubu had repeatedly emphasised, it was not the obligation of the ruling get together to “repair the home of the opposition.”
“Our activity is to supply Nigerians a degree enjoying subject and a transparent different constructed on integrity, competence, and efficiency. That we’re chosen repeatedly because the political get together of the second and of the long run is as a result of we characterize order over chaos, progress over paralysis, and hope over despair,” he added.
Addressing the gang at Michael Okpara Sq., Enugu, Shettima stated the APC had nurtured relationships constructed on belief and inclusiveness, offering a platform for all Nigerians with noble intentions.
APC Nationwide Chairman, Nentawe Yilwatda, additionally welcomed Mbah and his workforce into the ruling get together, saying that they had joined “the soul and household of the Progressives.”
He counseled the governor for his achievements in workplace and for selecting to align with the APC’s imaginative and prescient.
“Governor Mbah has revamped the training sector, constructed roads, and delivered for his individuals. That’s the reason we welcome him residence,” Yilwatda stated. “He has a progressive coronary heart, and we’re glad to have him in our fold.”
Political analysts have stated the continued wave of defections from opposition events, notably the PDP to the ruling APC displays the absence of ideology and the fragility of Nigeria’s democracy.
The Nationwide President of the Nigerian Political Science Affiliation, Hassan Saliu, stated the event was unsurprising given the character of the nation’s politics.
“Nigerian politics is about abdomen infrastructure. When politicians do their calculations and realise there’s a larger cake elsewhere to share, and understanding they lack ideology, they transfer there,” he stated.
Saliu argued that there is no such thing as a actual distinction between the PDP and APC, saying political events in Nigeria have grow to be mere automobiles for gaining energy.
“Some governors which have defected to the APC — what’s the change of their ideology? There’s no bond between the events and their members, if they’ve any in any respect,” he stated.
He famous that many politicians defect to safe their future, keep away from investigation, or protect affect because the PDP struggles with inner crises.
“Some are calculating and wish to keep away from being tried after workplace, so becoming a member of the ruling get together appears the most secure factor to do,” he stated. “The PDP is dealing with the implications of its lack of energy and doesn’t seem prepared to provide the APC a run for its cash, although something can occur.”
He added that the PDP’s earlier dominance within the South-South and South-East was primarily based on incumbency, not ideology.
“Within the Third World, events are solely robust when they’re in energy. The PDP has been out of energy for over ten years now, and politics right here is money and carry,” he stated.
Equally, Gbade Ojo, a political scientist and former Chief of Workers to the Oyo State governor, warned that the continued defections might result in an “unofficial one-party state,” which he stated wouldn’t bode nicely for democracy.
“The gale of defections from the PDP and Labour Social gathering to the APC factors to the potential for a one-party state, which isn’t any good for our democracy. The fantastic thing about democracy is to permit 100 flowers to blossom,” he stated.
Ojo added that the defections weren’t a mirrored image of APC’s efficiency however of PDP’s indiscipline and weak management.
“If a staunch PDP member like Nyesom Wike is serving as a minister in an APC authorities, then the place is the self-discipline in PDP?” he requested. “The get together seems rudderless.”
He stated the PDP’s disaster was self-inflicted, with inner betrayals weakening it forward of 2027.
“With this gale of defections, PDP is present process political extinction and will ultimately die if care is just not taken,” Ojo stated.
On his half, Mohammed Alada, a political scientist on the College of Ilorin, stated the pattern mirrored the self-serving nature of Nigerian politics.
“The character of Nigerian events is knowledgeable by curiosity. Folks be a part of events to fulfil private ambitions. As soon as these pursuits are threatened, they transfer elsewhere,” he stated.
He argued that the absence of ideology and inner get together democracy had weakened Nigeria’s political growth.
“We’ve practised democracy for 25 years, however what we’re seeing reveals that democracy is just not advancing. You may’t have democracy with out robust events, and weak events imply weak democracy,” he stated.
Alada stated the opposition’s incapability to type a united entrance forward of 2027 stemmed from conflicting ambitions.