Former Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Solomon Dalung, has denounced the recent string of defections to the All Progressives Congress (APC), labeling them as self-preservation tactics by political elites seeking to dodge scrutiny rather than serve the public.
Speaking on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief on Tuesday, Dalung addressed the high-profile defection of Delta State Governor Sheriff Oborevwori and the collapse of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) structure in the state into the ruling APC.
While Governor Oborevwori claimed the move was in the best interest of Delta State, Dalung dismissed the justification as disingenuous, describing the defections as “an escape mechanism for embattled politicians.”
“The wave of defections or rather, the gale of repositioning by political elites is more about survival, protection, and evasion of prosecution,” Dalung stated.
He stressed that seasoned observers of Nigerian politics recognize that these political shifts are rarely about ideology or public service. “Serious observers of Nigerian politics know this has nothing to do with ideology or service,” he added.
Dalung called for a more people-centered evaluation of such political moves, insisting that the legitimacy of defections should be decided by the electorate. “Let the people decide. It’s not for politicians to justify defections; it’s for the voters to determine whether it’s in their interest or not,” he concluded.