It was James Freeman Clerk who said, “a politician thinks of the next election; a statesman thinks of the next generation.” This is quite apt and cannot be farther from the truth, especially when situated in the context of Nigerian politics.
The gale of defections currently staring the opposition political parties in the face may not come to an end soon as more opposition figures are defecting in their numbers to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) ahead of the 2027 general election.
Lawmakers at the National Assembly have been busy with their political calculations and quite a number of them have defected to the APC, thus, positioning themselves for possible re-election in 2027.
Just recently, precisely on Tuesday, May 13, 2025, the three People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Senators from Kebbi state at plenary defected to the APC.
They are: Adamu Aliero (Kebbi Central); Yahaya Abubakar Abdullahi (Kebbi North), and Garba Maidoki (Kebbi South). Similarly, Senator Sumaila Kawu (NNPP, Kano South) has also led members of the New Nigeria People’s Party and the Kwankwasiya movement to the APC.
In the same vein, six PDP rep members from Delta state on Tuesday, May 13, 2025 defected to the ruling APC. The defected lawmakers include: Hon. Nnamdi Ezechi, Hon. Jonathan Ukodiko, Hon. Nicholas Mutu, Hon. Thomas Ereyitomi, Hon. Julius Pondi and Hon. Victor Nwokolo.
The tsunami of all defections took place on Wednesday, April 23, 2025 when the Governor of Delta State, Sheriff Oborevwori, and his predecessor, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa decamped to the APC from PDP with the entire political structure – all the federal lawmakers – (Senate and House of Representatives), and all the state assembly lawmakers. While some have described it as a movement, others insisted that it would go down in history as one of the biggest defections in Nigeria.
While welcoming the bold decision of the governor and his followers to join the ruling party, Vice President Kashim Shettima described the development as “a political tsunami of unimaginable proportions that had never happened in the history of the South-South geo-political zone and the history of Nigeria.”
Governor Sheriff Oborevwori, being a smart and astute politician, knew that the way the PDP was going, he stands little or no chance come 2027. In fact, the clouds were already gathering against him with the likes of Festus Kayamo, Ovie Omo-Agege and Sen. Ned Nwoko (Delta North) seriously gearing up to wrest the number one position in the state off him. Recall that Sen. Nwoko had in February 2025 defected from PDP to APC with one mission in mind – to run for governor in 2027. Today, all the heavy weights in APC have lined behind the governor who automatically becomes the leader of the APC in the state. Politics you may say!
Oborevwori was neither deterred nor moved by the deluge of criticism that followed his defection as he succinctly described it as a ‘movement whose time has come’. According to Oborevwori, “What you have seen here today is a movement, not a defection. We have consulted stakeholders at all levels. Mr President has shown us love. We cannot face him in 2027 to work against him.
When you consult widely, you can see that the love is organic.”
The movement of political structure in Delta state has indeed deflated the PDP and will take years for the hitherto ailing party to recover. Do we see more of such massive defections in the weeks and months to come? Is Nigeria eventually heading to one-party state with the current political atmosphere blowing in favour of APC? Will PDP quickly put its house together, before the 2027 general election?
Political watchers have described the move by Oborevwori as “strategic” because his strong challengers in 2027 are all in APC. Therefore, by virtue of his defection, he automatically becomes leader of the ruling party in the state. Those angling to challenge him in 2027 from APC would now have to wait till 2031.
Few days after the Delta experience, Akwa Ibom state Governor, Pastor Umo Eno declared his support for President Tinubu’s second-term bid, citing the president’s commitment to national development. His words: “Let me end by assuring our people-loving President that we will stand by him. He deserves to complete his eight years in office. He cannot start this work and abandon it.
Someone else may not finish it with the same passion.” He further used the analogy of an airplane to pass his massage. “If you wanted to travel with Ibom Airline and, on the verge of taking off, it developed a fault that won’t enable it to fly, won’t you board the next available plane to take you to your destination?” the governor asked rhetorically.
Except for Bayelsa State, the APC is now on the verge of capturing all the six states that made up the South-South geopolitical zone. Akwa Ibom and Rivers maybe PDP states in theory, but in practice, they have aligned with the ruling party. The PDP is gradually becoming politically dead in a region where it was once the dominant party.
The APC is firmly rooted in the South West geo-political zone. Except for Osun and Oyo states, the remaining four states – Lagos, Ekiti, Osun and Ogun states are all APC states.
There has been a strong move to capture the South East by the APC as about 150 members of the PDP and Labour Party, LP, recently defected to the APC in Enugu State. The defection was seen as a move to strengthen the ruling party. The defectors were welcomed during an expanded stakeholders’ meeting at the APC’s state secretariat recently.
In Ebonyi State, the former acting chairman of the PDP, Ifeanyi Nworie, also defected to the APC, along with his supporters, citing the need to keep Ebonyi as one political family. Former Senate President, Pius Anyim led many PDP chieftains and other opposition parties in the state to defect to the APC. In his remarks, Anyim said Ebonyi had always been a-one political family, adding that the massive defection of opposition members to the party attested to such fact. The former Senate President said his intention to join the APC had been hatched for long as remarked by former Governor David Umahi. The former SGF said the defection was not just about him, but Ebonyi people, as consultations were widely made before a final resolution was taken.
Former governor of Abia State, Okezie Ikpeazu, is likely to defect to APC along with his team of supporters based on his political alliance with Nyesom Wike.
Nigeria is indeed an interesting place. In fact, it would never cease to amuse one as all manner of defections will continue, even to the build-up of 2027 election.
Conversely, when real issues of governance and development should be the driving force, our politicians are busy with the politics of 2027. It is still two years away from 2027 and yet politicking and all manner of defections have been taken the centre stage.
Political allies and friends of President Bola Tinubu have been mounting billboards in some state. At the receiving end of all this politicking and defection is the masses, who are hoping and believing that elected officials would settle down to the job they have been elected to do.
Therefore, it is not surprising that Nigeria, amidst its huge natural, human and mineral resources, is bleeding and almost at the point of suffocating in the midst of plenty. That is the irony the country has found itself today – sacrificing governance and development on the altar of politics.
Leadership has remained the country’s biggest challenge. A large chunk of people occupying leadership positions today are incompetent and lack foresight on what to do with the position.
How do you explain that someone spends eight years in power, instead of lives of an average Nigerian getting better, it got worse? In fact, millions of Nigerians were plunged into poverty. Today, the country remains in that infamous position as the ‘poverty capital of the world’.
Recently, the World Bank, in its April 2025 Poverty and Equity Brief for Nigeria, disclosed that the poverty rate among Nigeria’s rural population has reached an alarming 75.5 per cent, highlighting deepening inequality and widespread economic hardship across the country. The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has also revealed that Nigeria has been identified as the country with the second-highest number of malnourished children worldwide, following only India.
Read also: Mass defections to APC: What it means for Nigeria’s democracy
Chief of Nutrition for UNICEF Nigeria, Nemat Hajeebhoy, disclosed the data during a recent collaborative meeting between the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency, and state nutrition managers.
Over the years, we have not been able to address our leadership problem and this has continued to hunt us in every facets of our national life.
Unfortunately, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and its series of electoral reforms have not helped matters as politicians always devise means to rig themselves in, either by omission or commission.
It has, therefore, become imperative that we must strengthen our electoral laws to ensure that the votes of the people always count. When desperation for power drive some people to rig themselves into power, they undermine the collective will of the people and relegate governance to the background.
The last time Nigeria saw a defecting Governor who demonstrated honour, integrity and pride was with Mallam Abubakar Rimi of Kano state ((1979 – 1983). When Rimi fell out with Mallam Aminu Kano, the leader of his party, the Peoples’ Redemption Party (PRP), and defected to the Nigerian Peoples’ Party (NPP), he resigned as Governor and handed over to his Deputy. Today, that honour and integrity has gone with the winds among our power-drunk politicians.
Certainly, there is an urgent need for a constitutional review to make it compulsory for anyone at all who leaves the party on whose platform he/she wins election to automatically vacate the position. This way, a politician has to think twice before defecting.
It is pertinent to reiterate at this point the words of Prof Pat Utomi that “democracy without a courageous and responsive opposition risks subverting the people’s will. The Big Tent Coalition Shadow Government (BTCSG) recently established by Utomi is what is needed at this time since the opposition parties are in crisis and struggling to be the mouthpiece of the people.
No doubt, the BTCSG is coming at the right time when it is most needed to put the government in power on its toe. Utomi explained that “as a national emergency response, BTCSG was designed to systematically monitor government actions, identify failures, and propose alternative solutions across critical sectors, such as the economy, education, healthcare, infrastructure, law and order, and constitutional reform.”
A one-party state is not just undemocratic; it is authoritarian and it is not what Nigerians need at the moment. Nigerians need viable alternatives to make their choice. Nigerians need government that will be pro-active in protecting lives and property. Nigerians need a country where food stuff is not just available but also affordable. Nigerians need a country where there are fundamental freedoms – competition is allowed, and dissent is no crime.
