The recent wave of defections from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) by state governors is nothing short of a disgrace to Nigeria’s democracy. What we are witnessing is not a political realignment but a craven betrayal of the electorate—a wholesale abdication of responsibility by politicians who have turned public service into nothing more than a cheap game of self-interest.
Let’s be blunt: these governors are not defecting because of any principled ideological differences. They are not walking away from the PDP out of any genuine desire to advance policy or serve the people better. No, these defections are driven by naked opportunism, personal ambition, and the desperate need for protection from the looming consequences of their own misdeeds. They are trading their integrity for power and using the APC as a shield against the very public accountability they so richly deserve.
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For example, Delta State Governor, Sheriff Oborevwori led the immediate-past Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, all political appointees, all elected public office holders and all party executives in a mass defection to the APC. It is rumoured that more opposition Governors would defect to the ruling party. This is no longer funny.
This is not politics as it should be practised; this is political prostitution at its most sordid. These politicians have shown that they have no loyalty to the people who elected them, no respect for the mandate given to them, and no commitment to the ideals of democracy. They are willing to throw aside the promises they made to their constituents in exchange for a seat at the table of power, where immunity, patronage, and impunity await.
In fact, their backward gravitation to a party that has inflicted gargantuan pains and sufferings on both the rich and the poor with concomitant erosion of middle class is influenced by the fear of persecution and jail term by Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC).
The APC, too, must bear the blame. The ruling party has become a haven for defectors, eagerly welcoming those who have betrayed their own constituents in exchange for the promise of political survival. By embracing these political carpetbaggers, the APC has cemented its status as a party of convenience—a party where integrity is sacrificed on the altar of political expediency. It is a party that sees no problem in rolling out the red carpet for politicians who have shown nothing but contempt for the democratic process.
And let’s not be fooled into thinking that the PDP is any better. The fact that it is hemorrhaging governors with such ease speaks volumes about its ineptitude and weakness. The PDP’s failure to maintain any semblance of internal discipline or ideological coherence has turned it into a political revolving door. No longer a party of principles or conviction, it has become a platform where politicians come and go, driven only by their personal ambitions and not the will of the people.
The truth is, both parties have become cynical charades, existing not to serve the public, but to serve the egos and interests of those in power. Every time a governor jumps ship, it sends a clear message to the Nigerian electorate: their votes don’t matter, their hopes don’t count, and their trust is expendable.
What is even more infuriating is the complete absence of consequences for these defections. In any functioning democracy, a politician who abandons the party that brought them to power should be held accountable—either through resignation or the need to seek a fresh mandate from the people. But in Nigeria, the political elite are above the law. They flout the system with impunity, safe in the knowledge that their defection will be rewarded, not punished. This is not just a betrayal of voters—it is an assault on democracy itself.
It is time for Nigerians to demand more. We cannot allow this political rot to continue. The laws must be changed to make defections a serious matter because their excuse when there is no crisis as demanded by the constitution is defeatist and assault on the conscience of good thinking people. We need to start holding politicians accountable, not just for their policies, but for their actions in office. Political opportunism must be punished, and the idea that elected officials can abandon their party without consequence must be eradicated.
The Nigerian political class has turned democracy into a joke—a joke that only they are laughing at. They have reduced the people’s vote to a mere footnote in their scramble for power and wealth. It is time for the electorate to wake up and stop tolerating this farce. If this is how our democracy is to be conducted, then it is a democracy in name only.
