After months of media speculation, Delta State Governor Sheriff Obovrevwori on Wednesday defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), abruptly severing a control the main opposition party held on the oil-rich South-south state for 26 years.
The pioneer state chairman of the party, James Manager, announced the defection after a meeting of the governor with PDP leaders and stakeholders at the Government House, Asaba.
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“Some consultations have been going on and the climax of these consultations is what you are seeing today. We have discussed and have disagreed to agree, and it is a unanimous agreement,” Mr Manager told journalists.
“If you look very well, the current PDP state chairman was in the meeting, the governor was there, the deputy governor, the speaker, the immediate-past governor, all of these persons were in the meeting. The National Assembly members, and even the House of Assembly members. The who-is-who in Delta state was in the meeting to make this decision.”
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Mr Manager attributed the seismic political development to the protracted national leadership crisis in the PDP and its possible implication for the party in the next general elections.
“Few days ago, there was a resolution taken by the PDP Governors’ Forum at Ibadan. Almost all the governors were there and they resolved that they are not going into coalition with any other party.
“But as disadvantaged as the PDP is now, with about 11 governors, how do you go into a contest with an Incumbent president? You think you can win? That particular resolution killed the spirit of so many PDP members.
“We lost elections in 2015 as a result of a merger, which even included splinter groups from the PDP. There are also other reasons.
“Today, Senator Anyanwu is the national secretary of the party, tomorrow its another person. The party must be in a position to go into an election to win. So, you see, that it is becoming very funny. The PDP is truly in trouble.
“I am the pioneer state chairman of the PDP but you cannot be in a boat that is already capsizing because I am a riverine man.
“Looking at issues the way they are, we have come to the inevitable conclusion to do something else. It is a collective decision for so many reasons.”
Unstated reasons
The stated fears about the implications of the leadership crisis of the PDP do not seem far-fetched. However, even more, worrisome for Mr Obovrevwori and his associates were local political developments eroding his reelection prospect.
One of these developments is the continued disaffection of the first Fourth Republic governor of the state, James Ibori, with the incumbent governor.
Mr Ibori has kept a distance from Mr Obovrevwori since the then-Speaker of the state legislature defeated his candidate in the bitterly fought 2022 PDP governorship primary.
Mr Obovrevwori proceeded to win the general election without the backing of the biggest name in Delta PDP, Mr Ibori.
However, the former governor’s closeness to President Bola Tinubu makes him a more dangerous adversary.
With the president also having other powerful political enforcers in the state like Government Ekpemupolo, aka Tompolo, in his camp, and the governor losing a counterweight through the death of Ijaw leader Edwin Clark, Mr Obovrevwori decided that being on Mr Tinubu’s side is crucial for his survival.
This is against the backdrop of the turmoil in the state PDP that led to the defection of leaders like its only senator, Ned Nwoko, who has become more influential in the Anioma zone since former Governor Ifeanyi Okowa from the same zone left office at the end of his second term in 2023. Speaking with PREMIUM TIMES Wednesday night, Mr Nwoko said he and other APC leaders were ready to welcome the new decampees to the ruling party and work harmoniously with them.
Mr Okowa’s ongoing investigation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has been mentioned as another factor that predisposed Delta PDP leaders to a deal with the governing party.
It is not clear if the anti-graft agency would close its file of the former governor’s alleged sleaze, even though a former national chairman of the party once said all sins are forgiven with membership of the APC.
However, the most important factor behind Mr Obovrevwori’s movement was the realisation that the PDP had become jaded in Delta State after a lengthy rule.
READ ALSO: UPDATED: Gov Oborevwori, deputy, commissioners defect to APC
The party that governed the Nigerian economic strategic states since 1999 lost the 2023 presidential election in the state despite the sitting governor, Mr Okowa, being on the PDP ticket as Atiku Abubakar’s running mate. The Labour Party won the state handily with 55 per cent of the vote to the PDP’s meagre 26 per cent.
The PDP also lost two senatorial seats to the APC, although it won eight of the 10 House of Representatives seats and the governorship election with 55 per cent of the vote.
This was a precipitous fall for a party that used to mark Delta as a safe bet.
Surrounded by adversaries like Messrs Ibori, Nwoko, and Tompolo, and with his party losing grassroots support, Mr Obovrevwori decided to flee the PDP to the APC.
His new party may not be more popular in the state. However, it at least offers him the sympathy of the federal government and a respite from attacks from the president’s local friends and sympathisers.
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