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Barring any last-minute change, Taraba State Governor Agbu Kefas appears set to become the latest Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governor to defect to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) after Enugu State governor, Peter Mbah on Tuesday made a similar switch.
The move, which has been the subject of intense speculation in recent weeks, gained momentum after Kefas’ close aides reportedly began consultations across the state and a youth group staged a rally in Jalingo on Tuesday, urging him to join the APC.
Sources told Daily Trust that the governor has constituted a committee co-chaired by former Senator Dahiru Bako to engage stakeholders and gauge public opinion ahead of the possible defection.
Senator Bako confirmed during one of the consultations that Kefas would not take such a step without first seeking inputs from the people.
“The governor will not make any political move without hearing from the people and carrying them along. That is why we are meeting with them,” he said.
The APC in the state has already declared readiness to receive the governor, even as some youth groups have continued to stage rallies urging him to join. However, the planned defection is said to have created tension among some APC stakeholders, particularly those with political ambitions ahead of the 2027 elections.
Sources said many party loyalists fear that if the governor moves to the APC with PDP lawmakers and appointees, it could narrow their chances of securing tickets in the next election.
Efforts to reach Kefas’ aides — Emmanuel Bello (Special Adviser on Media and Digital Communications) and Josiah Kente (Special Adviser on Political Matters) — were unsuccessful as of the time of filing this report. But PDP state chairman Alhaji Abubakar Bawa dismissed the speculation, describing the rally as an APC affair. He declined, however, to comment on the committee’s activities.
Kefas’ reported move comes as Enugu State Governor Peter Mbah formally defected to the APC on Tuesday, taking along most PDP political office holders and structures in the state, a development that strengthens APC’s foothold in the South East and weakens the PDP in its otherwise stronghold. Akwa Ibom State governor, Umo Eno and Delta State governor, Sheriff Oborevwori made similar switch earlier in the year.
Like Delta State, Enugu, before this defection had been a stronghold of the PDP with the party producing all its governors since the return to democratic governance in 1999.
Speculation is also rife that Bayelsa Governor Douye Diri and Zamfara Governor Dauda Lawal may follow suit. Although Lawal has publicly denied such plans, sources close to him say the option remains on the table and has not been completely ruled out.
Diri, the only second-term PDP governor among those reportedly eyeing the APC, has been battling for control of the party’s structure in Bayelsa. A faction loyal to FCT Minister Nyesom Wike is said to be laying claim to the structure, a situation that, analysts note, may have made the APC more attractive to him. With virtually all his South South colleagues now in the APC, except the recently reinstated Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara, who is also rumoured to be considering the ruling party, Diri’s options within the PDP appear increasingly narrow.
Before now, Osun State Governor Senator Ademola Adeleke, who faces re-election next year, reportedly made an unsuccessful attempt to defect to the APC. Party insiders in the state said his move was resisted by some stakeholders who feared he planned to dominate the party’s structure if admitted.
Observers believe the wave of defections, particularly from the South South and South East, signals President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s strategy to consolidate his influence across southern Nigeria ahead of the 2027 elections. This comes amid discontent over his administration’s policies in parts of the country. Currently, the APC controls three of the five South East states — Imo, Ebonyi and now Enugu — while Anambra, governed by the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), has already endorsed Tinubu for re-election in 2027. Abia State, under the Labour Party’s Governor Alex Otti, is also seen as friendly to the Tinubu administration.
In the South South, the APC controls four of six states — Edo, Delta, Cross River and Akwa Ibom — while Bayelsa and Rivers are the only remaining PDP strongholds. In Rivers, Wike, regarded as the state’s political leader, has publicly pledged to deliver the state for Tinubu in 2027, just as he did in 2023.
