The gale of defections from the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to the All Progressives Congress, APC, especially from the South-South and South-East geo-political zones, may have given President Bola Tinubu an advantage, ahead of the 2027 elections.

The latest defections of Governor Sheriff Oborevwori of Delta State, his predecessor, Senator Ifeanyi Okokwa, and other PDP stakeholders in the state have equally set the tone for Tinubu?s gradual takeover of the South-South.

The APC controls three of the six states of the Niger Delta, while it is in charge of two of the five South-East states.

Barring any last-minute changes, more PDP governors and leaders are expected to join the ruling party.

Aside from the Delta State governor, there are strong indications that one of the South East governors may also dump the PDP.

Though the said governor has not made up his mind about the move, the state chapter of the APC is already commending him for his developmental strides.

Eno backs Tinubu?s second term

Similarly, Governor Umo Eno of Akwa Ibom declared his support for President Tinubu?s second-term bid last week, citing the president?s commitment to national development.

Eno, who spoke while representing the President at the official flag-off of the 65-kilometre, three-lane dual carriageway section of the highway project in Nsit-Antai Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State, had described him (Tinubu) as a visionary and de-tribalised leader whose agenda is bringing tangible development to all parts of Nigeria.

Declaring his support for President Tinubu?s re-election, Eno said: ?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.?

Denies dumping PDP

But amid his recent endorsement of Tinubu for a second term and plan to defect to APC, Akwa Ibom State Commissioner for Information, Aniekan Umanah, yesterday, distanced Governor Eno from reports of dumping the PDP for the APC.

Speaking in Uyo, Umanah said: ?Governor Umo Eno?s support for President Bola Tinubu and Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, is a strategic act of enlightened state interest, aimed at unlocking federal collaboration for the benefit of the people of Akwa Ibom.

?The governor?s recent open endorsement of the President and other key federal leaders is not about partisanship, but a pragmatic step to foster cooperation and attract federal interventions to the state.

?This growing synergy has already begun yielding visible benefits and will further facilitate key initiatives such as the Ibom Deep Seaport, Ecological Remediation, among others.?

He disclosed that Tinubu has the backing of Nigerians to remain in power till 2031.?

Rivers

Also, the suspended Rivers State governor, Mr. Siminalayi Fubara, who was reported to have met President Tinubu in London last week, is expected to dump the PDP for the APC.

The meeting in London is seen as a step in reinstating the suspended governor. It will be recalled that Fubara was suspended from office as governor of Rivers State, following declaration of emergency rule in Rivers State by President Bola Tinubu.

Why Oborevwori, Okowa joined APC

Before Oborevwori and Okowa defected to the APC, a former governor of the state, Chief James Ibori and his daughter, Erhiatake Ibori-Suenu, as well as Senator Ned Nwoko had moved with their supporters to the ruling party.

With the defection, Oborevwori will emerge as the leader of the APC, edging out Ibori, Nwoko and former Deputy Senate President, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege.

The decision to join the APC was announced shortly after a high-level stakeholders? meeting of the PDP held at Government House, Asaba, yesterday.

Similarly, the immediate past governor of Delta State, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, confirmed his defection to the APC.

Addressing newsmen after the meeting, the Commissioner of Works (Rural Roads) and Public Information, Mr. Charles Aniagwu, said moving out of the PDP is necessary to collaborate and build a state every Deltan would be proud of.

He disclosed that the decision was reached after consultations by the governor and leaders of the party.

Aniagwu said: ?For some time now, the media, particularly the social media, have been awash as to what political decisions we are going to be taking in Delta State. And while that was going on, our governor and leaders of the party have been very busy carrying out necessary consultations.

?It is also part of consultations that we have also caused a meeting to hold here in Government House in Asaba. The leaders of the PDP today (yesterday) advised as to what necessary steps needed to be taken.

?It is said that when the taste of the palm wine changes, the drinking pattern also changes and the leaders of the party, in the course of the consultation, were unanimous in their view that the political temperature has changed; the taste of the palmwine in this instance has also changed and there was the need for us to adjust the drinking pattern.

?In adjusting the drinking pattern, we needed to take a decision that will further help to cement the development of our state to build the bond of love that has existed in our state to further advance the course of security and welfare of our people and, to a very large extent, ensure development in Delta, because every politics is local, is not truncated.

?In taking the decision, we came to the inevitable conclusion that moving out of the PDP is very necessary for us to be able to collaborate and build that state every Deltan will be proud of.

?We, believing that what is happening and the state of the PDP is likened to that palmwine which taste has changed and there was the need for us to change the drinking pattern and that is why the decision has to be taken unanimously by leaders and stakeholders of the party and by the grace of God, on Monday next week, we will be able to make very big statements as to the fact that we are moving to APC.?

Also speaking, former lawmaker representing Delta South senatorial district and pioneer chairman of the party in the state, Senator James Manager, cited the happenings in the PDP as reason they defected from the party.

Manager said: ?Consultations have been going on for some time now and the climax of the consultation is what you are seeing here in Government House in Asaba now.

?We have discussed, we have disagreed to agree on the way forward and it is always unanimous because of the happenings in the body politics of PDP.

?I am the pioneer chairman of the PDP and, of course, you will know how I feel but then you cannot be in a boat that is already capsizing.

?Looking at the issues, the way they are, we have come to the inevitable conclusion to do something else. It is not a sole decision, it was collective.?

Those in attendance at the meeting included the Deputy Governor, Sir Monday Onyeme; immediate past governor of the state, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa; members of the National Assembly, speaker of the State House of Assembly, Mr. Emomotimi Guwor; members of the State House of Assembly, commissioners, local government council chairmen, top government functionaries, stakeholders, leaders and party officials.

Reacting to the defection, the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Mr Festus Keyamo, commended President Bola Tinubu for his leadership.

Hours after Governor Oborevwori and his commissioners announced their defection to the APC, Keyamo in a post on X wrote: ?Today (yesterday) is the day the Lord has made in Delta State. Finally, Delta is APC. Thank you Mr President for your leadership that has attracted the best to our party. Thank you my leader and governor, Sheriff Oborevwori, for your foresight and courage in taking this bold decision.?

150 PDP, LP members join APC in Enugu

In the South-East, the APC is making inroads as about 150 members of the PDP and Labour Party, LP, recently defected to the APC in Enugu State.

The defection is seen as a move to strengthen the ruling party.

Prominent defectors included Peter Okonkwo, former Commissioner for Local Government; Nonso Ochi, LP?s 2023 Awgu North candidate; Onyeka Chukwuedo, PDP Awgu South aspirant; Chief John Edeh, PDP Nkanu West aspirant; Chief Tony Chigbo, former Uzo-Uwani LGA Chairman; and Emeka Abba, LP chieftain from Udenu.

The defectors were welcomed during an expanded stakeholders? meeting at the APC?s state secretariat recently. The meeting reaffirmed loyalty to President Bola Tinubu?s Renewed Hope agenda, urging Igbo support.

Ebonyi-Anyim, ex-PDP state chairman move to APC

In Ebonyi State, the former acting chairman of the PDP, Mr 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.

Anyim, in his remarks, 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.

Ogbulafor joins APC in Abia

In Abia State, a former chieftain of the PDP in Abia State, Prince Chidi Ogbulafor, defected to the APC.

The former governor, Okezie Ikpeazu, is expected to do the needful soonest, based on political alliance with Wike.

Reacting to the defections in Delta State, former Deputy National Chairman of the PDP, Chief Bode George, expressed shock over Oborevwori?s defection, saying attempts to turn Nigeria into a one-party state will fail.

George, in his reaction, said: ?I am shell-shocked. How can our governors, from an organised party, defect to an unorganised party such as APC, with only two people, Tinubu and Ganduje, dictatorially controlling the party?

?APC is a party of strange bed-fellows and I urge Deltans not to follow Oborevwori to APC because Delta is a PDP state from 1999 and it shall remain so.

??Presidency and APC are using instruments of state to coerce PDP governors to defect to APC. They are being threatened. PDP sponsored Oborevwori as governorship candidate, so he has to leave office.

?Attempts to turn Nigeria to a one-party state will fail. What has APC done since 2015 that will warrant any PDP governor to defect to the party??

On his part, a chieftain of the PDP, Chief Dele Momodu, took a swipe at leaders of the party joining the APC under the guise of investigations by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC. He said those defecting should not use the EFCC as an excuse for their defection.

In his reaction, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory FCT, Nyesom Wike, lauded the former governor of Delta State and 2023 Peoples Democratic Party?s Vice Presidential Candidate, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, for supporting President Bola Tinubu, saying Okowa?s defection to the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, had vindicated his (Wike?s) political stance in the last general election.

Wike in a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and Social Media, Lere Olayinka, in Abuja last night, said he had now been vindicated, following his decision not to support the 2023 PDP presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.

He said: ?It is another endorsement of the president?s good governance and commitment to the development of the country.?

Wike called on other Nigerians still sitting on the fence to throw in their support for the President.

He described the open endorsement of the president by Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, who was the running mate to Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, as ?a vindication of the position he took in 2023, which was based on the interest of a united Nigeria.?

?I commend Dr. Okowa and Governor Sheriff Oborevwori for this heart-warming decision, which must have been informed by good governance and commitment of President Bola Tinubu to the oneness and development of Nigeria.

?That is what I have always told people to come out and say, not when they have problems and begin to run up and down.

?They have come out at the right time to show support for the President so that the people of Niger Delta can benefit more from the government, and I commend them.

?I am particularly happy that what I saw before the 2023 presidential election, others are now seeing and are joining the Renewed Hope train,? the minister said.

Oborevwori will be fully accommodated, says APC

On its part, the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, welcomed the defection of Governor Oborevwori into its fold, saying he would be fully accommodated.

Party spokesman, Felix Morka, in a statement last night, said the state was now poised to contribute maximally to the success of the President Bola Tinubu?s administration.

The statement read: ?The National Working Committee of All Progressives Congress, APC, under the leadership of Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje is highly elated by the decision of the governor of Delta State, Sheriff Oborevwori, to join our great party, along with eminent leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party PDP, including former governor of Delta State and vice presidential candidate of the PDP in the 2023 presidential election, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, senior administration officials, leaders and members of the House of Assembly, local government chairmen and councilors in the state, and teeming leaders and members of the PDP.

?Our great party welcomes this important development, and assures the governor and incoming leaders and members of Delta PDP of our fullest cooperation and accommodation in the APC family.

?With this move, coming on the heels of steady decamping of PDP leaders and members across the state to APC, including members of Delta Unity Group in Ika federal constituency, we are delighted that Delta State, now an APC state, stands poised to contribute maximally to the success and realisation of the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and to the enduring good and prosperity of Deltans and all Nigerians?. (Vanguard)

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