Governor Peter Mbah’s defection to the ruling All Progressives Congress on October 14 is the latest mockery of democratic ethos and conspiracy against the people’s mandate. Mbah rode to power in 2023 under the umbrella of the Peoples Democratic Party, only to jump ship midstream.
Justifying his political adventure, the Enugu governor said, “I think it is high time we stopped fragmented politics in the South-East. My decision to move to the APC was for the greater interest of Ndi-Enugu and the South-East at large. It is a collective move by the political family in Enugu State — comprising members of the National Assembly, members of the State House of Assembly, the State Executive Council, all local government chairmen, councillors, political appointees, and over 80 per cent of party executives.”
Mbah’s switch and reasons adduced are not strange. Both follow in the mode of his counterparts in Delta and Akwa Ibom. The two governors dumped the PDP with their cabinets and almost all their political apparatchiks.
A day after Mbah’s declaration, Governor Diri Duoye, serving a second term in Bayelsa State, resigned from the PDP. There are speculations that he might join the APC.
The Governor of Delta, Sheriff Oborevwori, along with his predecessor, Ifeanyi Okowa, members of the House of Assembly and all PDP members in the state had defected to the APC in April.
Okowa said the mass defection was “about the fact that there is a need for us to connect to Abuja. That goodwill that is in Abuja, that resource that is in Abuja, of which Delta State is a large contributor – there was a need to connect to it.” In the 2023 presidential election, Okowa was the running mate to Atiku Abubakar, the PDP presidential candidate.
In June, Governor Umo Eno of Akwa Ibom State said, “Having completed the rounds of consultations, as your servant (whom) you have elected to serve you, I have therefore decided to progressively move to the APC… we are supporting the President for a second term in office to complete the reforms he has started…this movement is our gift to the President.”
Eno compelled his political appointees to go with him or resign, saying, “While we talk and persuade the politicians, those who contested elections to see the need to join the movement, I demand complete loyalty… I will not permit you to serve without joining my party.”
This gale of defections has left the main opposition PDP decimated, with eight governors left. Ayo Fayose, former Ekiti State governor and PDP chief, predicts that at least three more governors will still defect to the APC.
Between October and December 2024, 14 House of Representatives members from the PDP and Labour Party defected to the APC. The tide has continued in 2025.
In October, Kelvin Chukwu, the LP senator representing Enugu East, jumped to the APC. His switch reduced the ranks of the LP in the Senate to four. Four senators from Osun and Akwa Ibom left the PDP for the APC.
By October 14, the Senate recorded 74 APC, 27 PDP, four LP, two All Progressives Grand Alliance, one each for the New Nigerian Peoples Party and Social Democratic Party, per the Vanguard.
At the inception of the 10th NASS in June 2023, the APC recorded 59 Senate seats. The PDP had 36, LP eight, NNPP two, SDP two, APGA one and the Young Peoples Party, one.
In the House, the APC led with 175 seats, followed by the PDP with 118, LP 35, NNPP 19, APGA five, ADC two, SDP two and YPP, one.
After defections, the APC has gained more Reps while the other parties have dwindled.
While the defecting governors tout joining the ruling party as furthering the interests of their constituents, some commentators aver that the fear of losing a second-term seat and prosecution after office is the real reason for the switch of allegiance.
Whatever the reason they give, the defectors are playing up self-interest.
The defections are, without a doubt, a strong threat to democracy. The gale of defections is daily fuelling fears that the country is tilting towards a one-party state.
Without a virile opposition to checkmate a ruling party, democracy is empty. So, Nigeria’s democracy is on political quicksand. These widespread defections give the impression of a civilian dictatorship in the making.
The defections could precipitate bad governance: Good governance endures when the government in power is conscious that it could be removed at the polls if it fails to perform.
However, the country is now in a situation where a politician can wake up as a PDP member and go to sleep as an APC member.
This reflects the absence of ideological underpinnings in Nigeria’s multiparty system. It is the politics of self and self alone.
In the Second Republic, the Unity Party of Nigeria espoused a socialist ideology. It ran a free education, free healthcare, integrated rural development, and full employment agenda. The National Party of Nigeria adopted a conservative, capitalist bent, promoting housing for all and the eradication of illiteracy.
Other parties adopted peculiar ideologies with unique and identifiable programmes. The People’s Redemption Party was decidedly pro-masses. Mass defection was rare because of the strict ideological differences and commitments.
In the United States, the Republicans and Democrats have strong ideological differences. The Republicans tout gun ownership rights and lower taxes for all, while the Democrats support liberal ideologies, including abortion rights and progressive taxation to finance the government.
In the United Kingdom, Labour, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats have their set ideologies on social policy, the economy and Europe.
Therefore, it is difficult for politicians known for promoting the ideology of their parties to cross to another party without losing relevance and their support base.
But politics in the Fourth Republic has no ideological leaning. Politicians replace ideology with sloganeering. After 26 years of the Fourth Republic, this is the wrong path to take.
Rather than sell manifestos to the people during campaigns, the political parties engage in empty sloganeering and musical entertainment at the campaigns. For the PDP, it is: PDP, Power! For the APC, it is: It is APC, Change! Consequently, defection is uncontrolled and easy.
The courts complicate the mess with their inconsistent rulings.
In 2015, the Supreme Court nullified the seat of Ifedayo Abegunde (Akure North/South Federal Constituency) for defecting from the LP to the Action Congress of Nigeria.
In contrast, the same Supreme Court said there was no evidence that the 27 Rivers lawmakers defected from the PDP to the APC during the lawmakers’ imbroglio with Governor Siminalayi Fubara. Fubara had withdrawn his suit to declare the lawmakers’ seats vacant.
Such inconsistencies fuel politicians’ brazen actions.
Before the 2015 general elections, many ruling PDP members defected to the emerging opposition party, the APC. This was how the APC, a special-purpose vehicle, grabbed power with Muhammadu Buhari becoming President.
Many Nigerians believe that the defecting politicians are jumping ship to preserve their seats and to prevent arrest and prosecution after leaving office.
A former governor of Edo State, Adams Oshiomhole, said politicians were defecting to the ruling party so that “their sins could be forgiven.” They forget that criminal offences do not have a lifespan.
In-fighting has prevented the PDP from holding its convention. The LP is embroiled in a bitter leadership crisis. Some in the two parties have crossed to the ADC. These excuses are puerile. Politicians should build their parties.
It is time that parties are built around members, not godfathers and money bags. There are examples from football. In Spain, clubs like Real Madrid and Barcelona are owned by fans, who subscribe to them.
In Nigeria, ordinary Nigerians should own parties. They should pay their subscriptions annually so that it is difficult for the office holders to defect to other parties where they are not fee-paying members.
Although the APC insists President Bola Tinubu’s “good works” are responsible for attracting opposition members, the disgraceful mass defections are antithetical to democracy.
The Punch
