APC AND HER BULGING TUMMY
By: STANLEY MBULU Esq, FICRPC.
Content and condition are the two determining factors necessary for the bulging of a stomach;
One is voluntary and the other is inflammatory;
Content brings confidence and that is the connection to our concentration as far as this conversation is concerned.
The political landscape in Nigeria has been tinted and tilted with dynamic and dynastic realignments and rearrangements with party defections even when there are no notable affections for the decision.
Since the return of democracy in Nigeria twenty seven years ago, the PDP domiciled and dominated the domains of the nation’s political terrain and reigned like the rains of the rain forest on a rainy day within the walls that defined the country.
But just like the prophecies, predictions and postulations of some popular prophets, pundits and projective political analysts, that reign became ruined and relegated in 2015, with the then incumbent President, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan GCFR, of the PDP summarily submitting to the pollen power of the APC with Mohammadu Buhari GCFR, as their flag bearer by ‘consicely’ conceding and ‘handsomely’ handing over the baton to the latter, in a historic manner.
With just a decade on the tower of power, APC is currently sustaining a serenading, seducing and snatching affair that has so far seen an avalanche of other political defectors swelling its ranks and trooping into the chambers of the ruling power, and with the way things are currently going, the party may just be hitting a record-breaking membership strength that will be well acknowledged in the history of the nation’s politics.
Like a fisherman whom the face of fortune has decided to smile on, the fishing net of the APC may soon began to twist, turn and tear because of the multiple catch in the political sea.
Every nook and cranny in the political residents across the nation, is now busy with the expression, deliberation and calculation of how the new political weather and order in the country would affect the next planting and harvesting season.
Thus, the ample and ripple effects of the defections that upended and bended the political calculations in Nigeria will continue to manifest for some time until and even after the 2027 polls.
Recently in Delta state, the defection was massive and intensive like an episode waiting to explode.
The defection involved nearly everyone that was significant and symbolic in the PDP, being part of the voyage that switched their political alignment and allegiance.
The Governor, his predecessor, successor (unknown and unshown) and the entire assembly of his subordinates and supporters bundled themselves into the APC, like immigrants on the shores of their dream country and this suddenly multiplied the membership of the APC in the state.
Still in Delta state, APC also recorded a big catch when Senator Ned Nwoko, the Senator representing Delta North Senatorial District in the National Assembly decided to move in with the Progressives.
Setting the record straight, the implication of Senator Nwoko’s defection revealed and reflected on the reality that all of the three Senators from the state are now APC Senators- Senator Ede Dafinone (Delta Central), Senator Ewomazino Thomas Joel-Onowakpo (Delta South) and Senator Nwoko himself.
As the caravan of PDP defectors in Delta state continue to rise, swell and expand in numbers, the party, which hitherto was the ruling party in Delta state, seems dented, deflated and defeated in the battle for political supremacy, in a game where they used to boast of being the undefeated and undisputed champion.
As the 2027 general election beckons, the politics of Delta State has obviously taken a new dimension and direction following the exclusive and exhaustive exodus of the entire state PDP to the ruling APC in that state.
The defection of Governor Sheriff Oborewori, Ifeanyi Okowa and the entire People’s Democratic Party members in the state to the All Progressives Congress (APC), marks a significant and magnificent turning point in the state’s politics. As it stands now, the battalion of soldiers under the command of the Governor are now dumping their umbrellas in preference for the brooms, one after the other.
Not far away in Edo state, the number of APC members in Edo State House of Assembly swelled to eighteen some weeks ago, as the Speaker, Blessing Agbebaku representing Owan West Constituency, Yekini Idaiye representing Akoko-Edo (I) and Hon Sunny Ifada representing Esan Central which is Governor Monday Okpebholo’s constituency defected from the Peoples Democratic Party.
Others that defected with them were chairmen of some local government areas who have been on suspension, councilors, former members of the state house of assembly and leaders of the PDP like the former Deputy Speaker Hon. Roland Asoro, former Majority Leader of the House Hon. Nosa Nosayaba and a chieftain of the party Gabriel Oloruntobi amongst others.
Elsewhere in kano State, two members of the house of representatives also defected from the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The lawmakers are Kabiru Usman and Abdullahi Sani, who represent Rano/Bunkure/Kibiya and Karaye/Rogo federal constituencies of Kano, respectively.
The legislators blamed internal crisis in the NNPP as reason for their grievances and resultant defection.
Also in Lagos State, Mr Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, the Labour Party’s (LP) governorship candidate in the 2023 Lagos State election, reportedly defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC), which is the ruling party in that state.
His supporters in Labour Party did not hesitate to express and extend their disappointments on social media, with some accosting and accusing Rhodes-Vivour of abandoning the grassroots movement that rooted and fruited his candidacy, while others viewed it as a strategic and systematic move, suggesting that working within the APC could identify, simplify and amplify his influence on Lagos’ governance.
In a relative simultaneous transaction, was another edition sometime in March 2025, when the PDP’s 2023 governorship candidate, Abdul-Azeez Olajide Adediran, popularly known as Jandor, also defected to the ruling party. While the PDP in their reactions downplayed and downgraded his exit as inconsequential and insignificant, claiming that he was planted and painted to weaken them in their party, the APC openly and opulently welcomed him, saying his return was a boost to the relevance and dominance of the party in Lagos State.
Similarly, just five months ago in Imo State, the All Progressives Congress (APC), recorded another political feat with key figures in the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and Labour Party (LP), dumping such platforms and pitching tent with the ruling Party. The ‘freshers’ were prominent politicians, including serving and former lawmakers with their numerous and notorious followers.
Among the defectors are Chief Chris Okewulonu, associate and ardent supporter of the former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon Emeka Ihedioha, as his Chief of Staff during his short-lived period as governor, former House of Assembly Deputy Speaker, former Commissioner and one time PDP Deputy Governorship candidate to Ihedioha in 2015, Hon. Chuma Nnaji and former House of Representatives member for Ideato North and South, Rt. Hon Pascal Obi.
Others include House of Representatives member for Owerri Municipal, West and North, Rt.Hon. Chinedu Tochukwu Okere, former Deputy Speaker of the Imo State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Jonas Okeke, retired Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) in charge of Zone 8, Lokoja, Bartholomew Onyeka and Hon Emeka Ahuoku, a PDP chieftain from Nwangele.
All the seven politicians came with their supporters who also joined the APC.
It is also not to be forgotten that the movement of state governors from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) over the years, stands out as a recurring and reappearing trend that has redefined and redesigned political collaboration and cohesion, as well as power stratification and solidification.
This trend has seen prominent and proficient politicians like Sheriff Oborevwori, Ben Ayade, Aminu Tambuwal, Aliyu Wamakko, Abdulfatah Ahmed, and Bello Matawalle switch allegiances, each of them under unique and unified motivations and mobilizations. Their decisions and defences, often reflect broader and braver strategies to allow and align state interests with federal priorities, ensure access to developmental and distinctive resources, as well as foster political stability and sustainability, among others.
These are nothing but a fraction of recorded and registered several other similar scenarios across the country in recent times. As it presently stands, we have obviously not seen the end of this ‘dance with the chance’ as the APC is definitely, desperately and determiningly opening their doors wider to royally and romantically welcome more brides to the groom’s chamber, even as analysts have predicted and projected that the entire country may soon wake up to find themselves carrying a single political banner, before the 2027 general elections.
But it is very important that one does not fail to remember this popular sayings of the wise, before drawing any sentimental or judgemental conclusion;
“The dog usually follows the fellow whose stomach is heavily bulged as a result of his feeding, because if he does not dispose some through his anus, he will certainly discharge some via his mouth.”
In either ways, the dog will definitely be the imminent and immediate beneficiary of that companionship.
As annoying as this truth may sound to the ears of some critics and antagonists, APC is the new maiden being chased about by many suitable suitors in virtually all the streets and cities that made up Nigeria.
