From Ugochimereze Chinedu Asuzu
“If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?” – Psalm 11:3
The once formidable Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) now wobbles like a sinking vessel, rudderless, rudely abandoned by the very captains who once declared it Africa’s largest party. What we are witnessing is not mere political defection—it is the unfolding of a carefully orchestrated betrayal. A gale of shameless defections, selfishness and sabotage, wrapped in rehearsed statements and photo-ops, has reduced the PDP to a shadow of itself. Those who remain within the structure, rather than defending its soul, are busy carving out paths to personal safety—often with the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) as their refuge.
Let’s be clear: what is collapsing is not just a political party; it is the credibility of a generation of leadership that held the reins of Nigeria’s democracy for 16 unbroken years. The erosion did not begin today. At the peak of PDP’s glory, it controlled 28 out of 36 states and comfortably dictated national narratives. But look where we are today—only a handful of states left in the grip of an increasingly fragmented and directionless party, watched over by leaders who either lack the will to salvage it or are secretly conscripted by external interests to sabotage it from within.
OKOWA’S POLITICAL SALE OUT
One of the most ignoble moments came recently when former Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State—also PDP’s vice-presidential candidate in the 2023 general elections—formally defected to the APC, alongside his successor, Governor Sheriff Oborevwori, and other high-ranking PDP stalwarts in Delta. This move, rather than based on ideological realignment, smacks of desperation for protection.
The defection comes in the wake of EFCC investigations into Okowa’s financial dealings while in office. A man once touted as a stabilizer within PDP, and who bore the party’s flag on a national ticket just last year, now jumps ship in what many see as a preemptive move to evade accountability. His defection drags not just his personal integrity, but the entire Delta PDP structure—including government appointees, legislators, and functionaries—into the swamp of political opportunism.
To further compound the insult, Okowa and his allies justified the defection as a “move to ensure development and stability in Delta State.” Such narratives no longer fool the Nigerian public. If anything, they expose the perverse thinking that equates personal political survival with the public good.
OMO-AGEGE’S REJECTION: A TWISTED DRAMA
Ironically, even within the APC, Okowa and Oborevwori’s defections were met with stiff resistance. Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, former Deputy Senate President and APC’s 2023 governorship candidate in Delta, publicly rejected their entry, accusing them of seeking cover from impending legal scrutiny. This further exposes the ideological bankruptcy of Nigeria’s political class—where no party is immune to infiltration by actors driven solely by fear, not fidelity to public service.
INTERNAL ENEMIES WITHIN THE PDP
The rot within PDP didn’t start with Okowa. It has festered for years, nourished by selfish actors masquerading as party elders. These are individuals with one foot in the PDP and the other in conversations with APC power brokers. They sabotage internal consensus, instigate crises, and use the media to launder their treachery. Many of them occupy elective positions today yet work daily to make the party ungovernable.
It is no surprise, therefore, that state after state has fallen from PDP’s grip. From the North-Central to the South-East and South-South, defections are no longer isolated events—they are epidemics. The party has lost not just political turf but also the moral ground to confront the ruling APC.
THE SHAMELESSNESS OF IT ALL
The real tragedy is not the defections—it is the shamelessness. Men who once led anti-defection campaigns, who rode on the goodwill of PDP voters, now pivot overnight with no apology or remorse. They claim it's for “development,” yet everyone knows it’s about deals, cover-ups, and self-preservation. The Nigerian people are not stupid.
What we see in PDP today is not just a party in distress—it is a classic Greek tragedy: heroes turned villains, allies turned saboteurs, and no chorus strong enough to recall the days of glory. The idea that a party can be this weak, this compromised, and still hope for national revival, is a farce.
WHAT FUTURE?
For the PDP to recover—if at all—it must strip itself of these internal saboteurs and reforge a moral compass. It must rediscover courage, principle, and loyalty to the people. A party that cannot discipline its own cannot offer credible opposition. And a party whose leaders defect at the slightest pressure has no ideological soul.
The gale of defections may continue, but it will not cleanse the shame that now coats the name PDP. Only a full, honest rebirth—perhaps through the emergence of a new structure with clear vision and uncompromised leadership—can rescue what remains.
Until then, Nigeria watches. And history, with its unforgiving pen, takes notes.
_Ugochimereze Chinedu Asuzu April 29, 2025
