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FEAR GRIPS PDP AS APC TARGETS MORE GOVERNORS
Amidst the tense situation already ravaging the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) over the elective convention planned for November this year, another round of tension is said to be gripping leaders of the opposition party over indications that it is set to lose more governors to the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC).
Information at the disposal of the Nigerian Tribune indicate that the continued depletion of the ranks of PDP governors is not about to end as another governor from the Southern part of the country is said to have perfected his defection plans.
The embattled PDP had already lost two influential governors to the ruling APC in recent months, but that party is again set to be at the receiving end as sources confirmed that President Bola Tinubu will on arrival from his recent foreign tour receive another defecting PDP governor to APC fold.
“I can confirm to you that all is set for the defection of another PDP governor to the fold of the APC. This particular governor is seen as a hardworking and performing governor who is well loved by the political structures of his state. What I can say for now, is he is from one of the southern states. We have crossed the T’s and the I’s, we are only waiting for Mr. President’s return to the country to announce the official defection,” a source said on Sunday.
Although the source did not name the governor concerned, it can be recalled that the PDP already has its back to the wall in most geopolitical zones of the south. In the South-East, only Enugu State governor, Peter Mbah is of the PDP, while the South-South currently parades the suspended Governor Sim Fubara of Rivers State, and Governor Duoye Diri of Bayelsa Bayelsa, while the South-West also has two governors including Seyi Makinde of Oyo State and Ademola Adeleke of Osun State.
The APC would be able to take a clear majority of South-East states if Mbah, the only PDP governor in the zone defects to the ruling party as that would take the number of APC governors to three in the zone. The same scenario would play out in the South-South if either of Fubara or Diri should dump the opposition party to join the APC. The number of governors in the South-South may thus swell to five out of six.
Sources close to the APC and PDP said that one of the PDP governors has already signed out of the PDP and that President Tinubu would receive the governor into the APC when he returns to the country from the current trip.
Sources also confirmed from one of the Southern state governors has already signed out of the PDP and that though the governor initially intended to stay back in the party to work for the 2027 re-election of President Tinubu, it was gathered that the latest decision is to ensure he leaves the PDP and join the APC.
“The push in the APC is to have a clean sweep of the Southern states and have a stronger incursion into the North Central and other geopolitical zones ahead of the 2027 election. Already, we have got the Delta and Akwa-Ibom governors into the fold of the party, but we are not relenting,” a source said.
It was gathered that the latest push to have more PDP governors defect to the ruling party was fuelled by developments in the opposition African Democratic Congress (ADC), where feelers are emerging that the party may eventually adopt zoning ahead of the 2027 election. It was gathered that the APC was already preparing to have a clean sweep of the South so as to reduce the perceived impact of a southern candidate, if one emerges from the ADC.
Another source stated: “We are of the view that the ADC is coming with different possibilities. If that party should field former vice-president Atiku Abubakar from the North-East, that would reduce the scramble for southern votes. But if that party picks a candidate from the south, that will create serious concern for the sitting president, who will need to maintain a strong hold of the region. That is why the party, and the presidency are not leaving things to chance by targeting as many PDP governors as possible.”
It was gathered that governors on the shopping list of the APC include the Enugu State governor, Peter Ndubuisi Mbah, Bayelsa State governor, Douye Diri, Plateau State governor, Caleb Muftwang and the Zamfara State governor, Alhaji Dauda Lawal.
