The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has accused the Federal Government of creating a climate of political exclusion that is forcing governors and other politicians to defect to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Speaking on Channels Television’s end-of-year programme 2025 in Retrospect: Charting a Pathway to 2026, PDP National Publicity Secretary, Ini Ememobong, argued that recent defections are rooted in what he described as uneven access to federal power and resources.
“When you [reference to President Bola Tinubu] win an election with less than 40 per cent of votes, you begin from point one to do politics and if you check all the governors who have defected, especially from the PDP, you will hear one language: ‘We are connecting to the centre so that we can take benefits from the centre back home’,” Ememobong said.
According to him, this pattern points to deeper governance concerns. “What does that indicate? It indicates the inability of the Federal Government to run an egalitarian system. It shows nepotism where you are running a system based on which party you belong to,” he added.
The PDP has lost significant political ground in recent months, with several governors, federal lawmakers and key party figures defecting to the APC. As a result, the ruling party now controls an overwhelming majority in the National Assembly and has about 28 governors under its banner, largely through defections from opposition parties.
Ememobong said the trend reinforces the perception that opposition-controlled states are sidelined at the federal level, noting that “when you are in a different party, you are completely disconnected”.
The opposition party is also grappling with internal leadership disputes. The PDP held a controversial national convention in Ibadan, Oyo State, in November, despite conflicting court orders for and against the exercise. Although a new national leadership emerged from the convention, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has refused to recognise the officials.
In response to accusations of political coercion, the APC rejected claims that Nigeria is drifting toward a one-party state. Party spokesman Felix Morka insisted that defections are voluntary and a natural outcome of democratic competition.
“Even if anyone in the APC wished for a one-party state, it is virtually impossible under the prevailing constitutional legal framework to enact a one-party state,” Morka said.
“A one-party state doesn’t come by wishful thinking or by people being mischievous. What you are seeing is just the play of democracy,” he added, urging Nigerians not to misinterpret political realignments as democratic collapse.
