<img class=img src="https://dailytrust.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/apc-secretariat.jpg"></img><br><blockquote><br><b><i>Lsofty promises allegedly by the Presidency and the national headquarters of the All Progressives Congress (APC) are some of the reasons why legislators, high ranking elective office holders and chieftains of other political parties are defecting to the ruling party, Daily Trust learnt.</i></b><br><br>In most of the instances, the defectors cite internal party wrangling or performance of the ruling government as reasons for dumping their political parties, under whose backs they rose to power.<br><br><b>Though political defections are not new in Nigerias democratic landscape, the rate and scale at which they have swept through the ranks of the opposition in recent monthsless than two years into President Bola Ahmed Tinubus administrationhave triggered growing concerns.</b><br><br>Many observers are now questioning the motives behind the wave of cross-carpeting, especially amid worsening economic conditions.<br>These concerns have been amplified by the belief that, given the severe economic crisis following President Tinubus removal of fuel subsidy and the devaluation of the naira, and the worsening security situation, opposition leaders would rally together to present Nigerians with a viable alternative ahead of the 2027 general elections.<br><br><b>Yet, instead of strengthening the coalition efforts championed by former vice president and 2023 Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, the reverse has been the case.</b><br><br>Apart from the defection of the former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai and a few others from the ruling APC to the Social Democratic Party (SDP), which is being touted as the potential vehicle for the coalition, the APC has been harvesting defections from the PDP and other opposition parties at an alarming rate.<br><br>The gale of defections has permeated the political terrain as already a serving governor has moved to the APC and others reportedly only marking time.<br><br>Besides, many legislators at the national and state levels have moved to the APC, while the number of ex-governors, deputies, former legislators, among others has continued to swell.<br><br>But beyond citing the problems in their parties, Daily Trust learnt from multiple sources that some of the defectors were allegedly approached with mouth-watering offers to defect.<br><br>The essence, according to our sources, is to improve the chances of President Tinubu to get a second term in 2027.<br><br><b>The carrots being offered</b><br><br>There are allegations that a lot of money is being shared to opposition politicians especially in the Senate and House of Representatives to defect to the APC.<br><br>The allegation is the same against some politicians seen as powerful in their constituencies even though they dont hold any political office, either elective or appointive.<br><br><b>Daily Trust could not independently verify this claim, as the presidency, the APC and those who have defected have denied the allegation.</b><br><br>Besides alleged financial inducements, there are accusations that most of the legislators that have defected so far have been assured of automatic ticket to return to the National Assembly in 2027, irrespective of how long they have been in the hallowed chambers, or the level of their performance.<br><br>It was suspected that the same offer has been made for some first-time governors from the opposition parties.<br><br>So far, only the governor of Delta State, Sheriff Oborevwori, has dumped the PDP, under whose back he rode to power in 2023, and joined the APC.<br><br>It is not clear whether the remaining opposition first-term governors would defect to the APC or not, but the actions and utterances of some of them showed that they are favourably disposed to what President Tinubu, and by extension the ruling party, are doing.<br><br>The first-time governors include Alex Oti (Labour Party, Abia), Umo Eno (PDP, Akwa Ibom), Peter Mba (PDP, Enugu), Abba Kabir Yusuf (NNPP, Kano), Caleb Mutfwang (PDP, Plateau), Siminalayi Fubara (PDP, Rivers), Agbu Kefas (PDP, Taraba) and Dauda Lawal (PDP, Zamfara).<br><br>Specifically for legislators at the National Assembly who are popular in their states, it was alleged that they are also being wooed with multi-billion naira projects, in addition to promises for automatic tickets for return.<br><br>But when contacted, some of them denied the allegations while others refused to talk at all. In retrospect, many of them during the announcement of their defections alleged that their former political parties were incurably enmeshed in crises and they have no option but to move on to the APC.<br><br>For instance, Senator Kawu Sumaila, who represents Kano South in the Senate under the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), is one of those who recently migrated to the APC.<br><br>Soon after his defection, rumours were rife that he defected to the ruling party because he was given a project worth over N90 billion to reactivate some dams in Kano under the Ecological Fund.<br><br>When asked during an exclusive interview with the Daily Trust to comment on this allegation, Kawu Sumaila said the projects approved for his senatorial zone were true, but that they were awarded long before he and other legislators from Kano defected to the APC.<br><br>He also said there was no any condition attached to their movement to the APC or the dam projects in question.<br><br>He added that the contract, which was approved by the federal government to the tune of over N90 billion, was not influenced by him alone, or awarded directly to him, saying they worked together with some members of the House of Representatives to attract the project.<br><br>We influenced it (the constituency project) for our people. I am not a journalist. I am a representative of the people. I made promises during my campaignone of them being to revitalise the agricultural and irrigation systems in Kano South. Our region has three major damsTiga and Challawa among themwhich are among the largest in West Africa. These dams even support irrigation in parts of Kano Central, Yobe, Bauchi, and up to Maiduguri<br><br>For instance, Challawa in Karaye has been idle for 34 to 35 years after its completion. Reactivating it would impact at least 30,000 people.<br><br>So, as a responsible representative, should I reject that kind of opportunity just because of political party differences' Should I say no to a project that benefits my people simply because of alphabetical differences in party names' he asked.<br><br>In Katsina State, the only three members of the House of Representatives elected on the platform of the opposition PDP have defected to the ruling APC.<br><br>They are Hon. Salisu Yusuf Majigiri, representing Mashi/Dutsi federal constituency; Abdullahi Balarabe Dabai, representing Bakori/Danja, and Hon. Aliyu Ilyasu, representing Batsari/Safana/Danmusa federal constituency.<br><br>Both Dabais and Ilyasus phone numbers seem to be on call forwarding for days, such that they could only receive calls from the numbers they have saved. And the messages of inquiry sent to them yesterday on the allegations that they were influenced with either financial inducement, contracts, or automatic tickets, were not replied as at the time of filing this report.<br><br>For Hon. Majigiri, who picked up his call yesterday, he said he was about to collect his membership card of the APC at his political ward and would not be able to respond to the inquiry.<br><br>However, a former PDP ward chairman, Manawa ward of Batsari Local Government Area of Katsina State, Sani Muhammad popularly known as I know, told our reporter that he dropped his leadership position in the APC and defected with his house member.<br><br>Actually, he (Hon. Ilyasu) defected to the APC before even consulting us, but the moment he called me to intimate me about the move, I decided to move with him, so I defected also.<br><br>It is indeed the crisis in the PDP, especially in Katsina State, that forced him to leave. He is not the kind of person who likes crisis. We have not heard of any inducement, but we know that the APC were calling them to join them, so he decided to join, he said.<br><br>In Kebbi, prior to the defections of Senators Adamu Aliero, Dr. Yahaya Abdullahi and Musa Mai Doki to the APC at the floor of the Senate Chambers in Abuja, plans for their movement started last year in Birnin Kebbi when Senator Aliero nominated some known political figures considered as his foot soldiers to dialogue with the APC-led administration under Governor Nasir Idris on alleged sharing formula for elective and appointive offices.<br><br>The group, led by his junior brother, Alhaji Abba Aliero, had met with Governor Idris and other APC chieftains at the Government House chambers in Birnin Kebbi where they discussed the modalities for their defection to the ruling party.<br><br>After coming out of the meeting, Abba Aliero said they were invited for a tete-a-tete, and the public would be informed of whatever decision was reached later.<br><br>He said We, the supporters of Senator Aliero were summoned to a friendly discussion with His Excellency, Governor Idris, which we obliged. We sought for time to return to our constituencies for further consultations with our grassroots supporters before deciding on the best course of action.</blockquote><br><a rel=ugc href="https://dailytrust.com/automatic-tickets-contracts-fuelling-defections-to-apc/">https://dailytrust.com/automatic-tickets-contracts-fuelling-defections-to-apc/</a>
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