2027: More defections loom as APC mounts pressure on opposition figures

The gale of defection plaguing the opposition political parties may not come to an end soon as more opposition figures are making moves to join the trend.

DAILY POST reports that there has been a massive defection of opposition leaders to the ruling party as 2027 elections take center stage in the country’s political space.

The National Assembly has been the epicenter of the defection since the current administration took off in May 2023.

The assembly, under the leadership of the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio and Speaker, Tajudeen Abbas started with strong opposition party members from the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Labour Party, LP and the New Nigerian Peoples Party, NNPP.

DAILY POST reports that at the beginning of the 10th Assembly, the ruling party had 59 seats in the upper legislative Chamber, while the opposition had 50 to make up the 109 seats.

Similarly, in the lower legislative chamber, (House of Representatives) APC initially controlled 175 seats while the opposition had 182 seats.

However, a few months after the 10th Assembly was inaugurated, there has been an unprecedented wave of defection from the opposition parties to the ruling APC, dwindling the strength of opposition in both the red and green chambers.

According to reports, the APC now has about 265 seats in the two chambers after six senators and 24 House members dumped the opposition parties and defected to the ruling APC.

DAILY POST reports that the gale of defection became more worrisome recently after the Delta State Governor, Sheriff Oborevwori on April 23, led his predecessor, Ifeanyi Okowa, and the entire PDP structure in the state to switch allegiance to APC.

Prior to their resignation from PDP, four members of the Edo State House of Assembly had on March 12, dumped the main opposition party and Labour Party for the ruling APC, weakening opposition voices in the state.

The decision of Governor Oborevwori and his political entourage followed a resolution of governors elected under the PDP platform not to be part of the coalition being spearheaded by their former presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.

APC intensifies negotiations with more governors and lawmakers

DAILY POST gathered at the weekend that the ruling party has intensified its negotiation, wooing other opposition leaders, particularly from the northern part of the country to join the APC.

A top PDP stakeholder, who spoke with DAILY POST on condition of anonymity, said the ruling party has resolved to capture more states in the North before the year runs out.

According to him, northern states like Adamawa and Zamfara have been a target of the ruling party to further weaken the PDP structure ahead of Tinubu’s re-election bid.

He noted that “anywhere APC notices a threat ahead of the next election, they are doing everything possible to capture the place. Politics is a game and it is a game of personal interest.

“People don’t just defect for nothing. The recent wave of defection as you are seeing, has a lot of secret agreements between the individual and the party.

“Aside from money, what they do is to assure, whoever is defecting, especially the lawmakers, that their re-election into the 11th assembly is guaranteed.

“As we speak, there is serious pressure on Kano, Akwa-Ibom, Zamfara, Plateau Governors to defect to the party at least before the year runs out.

“The plan is to capture many states, especially the strongholds of all the opposition parties before the primary election next year.

“Aside from Osun State, where the opposition is seemingly strong, anything is possible in South West states controlled by the PDP”.

He further stated that the outcome of the much-awaited National Executive Council meeting of the PDP scheduled for May 27 “will determine who is going to remain in PDP until the end of the year”.

The source alleged that “one of the conditions being handed over to Governor Fubara of Rivers State for his return is either to join APC or publicly endorse Tinubu for the 2027 presidential election as done in Anambra State recently”.

According to him, “PDP governors defecting and endorsing Tinubu are those who want to render Atiku useless.

“They are tired of his role in the party. He has a way of forcing himself on the people and that was why our party lost the 2023 election.

“The only solution is for the PDP to put its house together. We are hopeful that the coming NEC meeting will bring the desired peace into the party”.

The possibility of the President Bola Tinubu-led administration to plunge the country into a one-party state has been a concern to opposition figures across the country.

The insinuation followed the continuous defection of key opposition figures into the ruling party, which has relatively weakened the strength of the opposition voices.

The National Chairman of the APC, Abdullahi Ganduje, recently fueled speculations that the ruling party is all out to ‘destroy’ the opposition parties.

On Friday, the former governor of Kano State, while leading a delegation of three defecting senators from Kebbi state to President Tinubu, told Nigerians that there is nothing wrong with having a one-party system in Nigeria.

According to him, “leaders worried about a one-party state have no need to fear. A one-party state is not by force; it is by negotiation.

“It is by other political parties seeing the effect of the positive governance of our party”.

Ganduje’s latest comments re-ignited speculations that state resources might be quietly deployed to undermine the opposition in the country.

A political analyst, James Agaba told DAILY POST that Ganduje’s comments are highly condemnable, stressing that the utterance has the “capacity to destroy the democracy we are managing to grow.

“That is power intoxication. From what the APC leader said, it is clear enough that the 2027 election is going to be a do or die affair and that’s not a good news for our staggering democracy.

“Is there a hidden agenda for the 2027 election? Since Nigeria returned to Democracy in 1999, APC came into power just in 2015 and the same party now wants to run a one-party state after they have enjoyed opposition?. This really calls for concerns.

“The beauty of Democracy is opposition. They put the ruling party in check and allow things to flow well, so in a situation where there is no opposition, we will only end up having autocratic leaders, who will do only what they want.

DAILY POST reports that the presidency had prior to Ganduje’s recent comment, denied any intention to pursue a one-party agenda.