2027: 4 More PDP Governors set to Dump Party for APC, as Jonathan Seeks Alliance with ADC in Comeback Bid

4 More PDP Governors set to Dump Party for APC, as Jonathan Seeks Alliance with ADC in Comeback Bid

 

 

 

 

The deepening crisis within the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is threatening to unravel the party ahead of its planned national convention in November, with fresh indications that four sitting governors are on the verge of defecting to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

 

At the same time, former President Goodluck Jonathan is reportedly exploring a political alliance with the African Democratic Congress (ADC) as part of a quiet comeback bid.

 

Sources told NEWS WEEK NIGERIA that the party’s November convention in Ibadan has been thrown into uncertainty due to sharp disagreements over micro-zoning of national offices. The position of National Chairman has pitted three blocs against each other — one loyal to FCT Minister Nyesom Wike, another aligned with Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde, and a third led by the incumbent national chairman, Umar Damagum

 

 

One such office causing disharmony within the PDP is the position of National Chairman. It has polarised the party into three groups, one led by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike and the other led by the governor of Oyo State, Seyi Makinde. The current National Chairman, Usman Damagun, stands alone as leader of the third group.

 

 

While the Wike led-group is insisting that the North-Central should be ceded the party’s National Chairman, it has drafted three aspirants for the position, according to NEWS WEEK NIGERIA checks. They are former Information Minister, Prof. Jerry Gana, ex-Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State and former acting National Chairman of the party, Abubakar Kawu Baraje. On the other side, the Makinde group is rooting for aspirants from the North-West zone and has lined up a former Governor of Kaduna State, Ahmed Makarfi and ex-Kebbi governor, Senator Aminu Turaki as its preferred men. Damagun, who is from the North-East, wants to retain the post.

 

Damagun’s insistence on being re-elected is said to have offended the Wike group and for this he may find it difficult to get the cooperation of its ally, the National Secretary, Samuel Anyanwu as both officers are required by law to officially communicate with the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.

 

“This situation has created disharmony and the notion that the party is currently in a limbo,” a senior party chieftain told NEWS WEEK NIGERIA on Friday. “It is so bad that there is a creeping feeling that PDP may not field a presidential candidate in 2027 as people are already talking about 2031 as the next possible date for such a thing. I am afraid some governors may defect in the weeks ahead,” the chieftain said, asking to be masked.

 

FOUR GOVERNORS TO DEFECT TO APC

Following the confusion in the PDP, NEWS WEEK NIGERIA can report that barring any dying minutes change of plan, at least four governors have concluded plans to dump the party for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in a major quake that is expected to knock the party out of any serious contest in the elections in 2027.

 

NEWS WEEK NIGERIA checks revealed that the governors are fed up with the sudden turn of events after the party had recently resolved its differences and was looking forward to the proposed Ibadan National Convention. They are Peter Mbah of Enugu State, his Bayelsa counterpart, Douye Diri, Agbu Kefas of Taraba State and Governor Caleb Mutfwang of Plateau State, the home state of the National Chairman of the APC, Professor Nentawe Goshwe Yilwatda, who desperately wants his state in the APC corner.

 

Governor Mbah’s grouse is straightforward, though strategic. At a recent zonal congress of the South-East held in Enugu, he had joined leaders of the party in the zone to threaten to quit over the disputed National Secretaryship position. The fate of its candidate for the office, Sunday Udeh-Okoye, is uncertain, particularly after Senator Anyanwu, a Wike ally, was reinstated following a fence-mending pre-national convention decision.

 

Having got back his position, Anyanwu is said to have vowed to swim and sink with Wike. He had ‘suffered’ for disobeying the minister’s order not to sign the presidential nomination form of Atiku Abubakar as the party’s candidate in the 2023 general election. Wike, who was governor of Rivers State then, had been aggrieved over what he termed the manipulative way that led to Atiku’s victory and subsequently formed a G-5 PDP governors’ group that worked against the interest of the party in that election.

 

The governors barely got Anyanwu to co-sign with Damagun, the papers informing INEC of its 102 NEC. Another hurdle looms for the party as it plans its 103 NEC scheduled for October 15, 2025, when the leadership is expected to harmonise positions ahead of the national convention.

 

With Anyanwu sticking to the Wike group, made up of Ortom and other former governors – Ayo Fayose of Ekiti state, Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State, all of who met recently and issued a six- point demand, including rejection of any form of micro-zoning, demanding recognition of the South-South congress held in Calabar and supporting the North-Central zone to lay claim to the Chairmanship position, the party is almost back to another round of crisis that may scuttle the convention.

 

The PDP Governors Forum and Damagun have since called the bluff of the Wike group, insisting that the plan for the convention would go on.

 

For Governor Muftwang and Kefas, sources say they are simply fed up with the continued crisis in the party that has reduced its public image in the estimation of politically discerning Nigerians. Muftwang is also worried that the APC could sweep him out of office, using the power of the presidency. Their Bayelsa counterpart, Douye Diri, who had in July 2025 denied any plans to defect to the APC despite being aware of the support for his defection by 19 out of 24 lawmakers in the state, is said to be having a rethink following the current stalemate in the party. He is doing his second term, but a defection to APC will give him the powers to determine who succeeds him and enable him to retain his influence in the state. The governor is said to be keenly watching the body language of his kinsman and former President, Goodluck Jonathan, who is intensifying efforts to seek alliances to make a comeback.

 

Given the circumstances, two other governors are still making overtures to the APC. They are Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun state and his Zamfara counterpart, Dauda Lawal.

 

Governor Adeleke had almost concluded plans to defect to the APC when the local leadership of the opposition APC unanimously rejected his moves.

 

A major reason for his planned defection was the inability of his administration to fund local government areas on a sustainable basis, following the lingering legal battle with the Federal Government over withheld local government funds since March. The central government has refused to release LGA funds following the dispute over the conduct of LGA poll in February 2025.

 

Lawal is facing a similar challenge with the APC in his state, following an altercation with his predecessor and current Minister of State for Defense, Bello Matawalle, whom he accused of fueling insecurity in the state. The crisis in the PDP has provided an added impetus for both governors to keep their defection plan in the works. Adeleke faces re-election in September 2026.

 

Unlike Adeleke, whose state is among the eight states that undergo off-season re-election, Lawal’s second tenure re-election comes up in 2027.

 

The PDP currently controls 10 states – Zamfara, Osun, Taraba, Plateau, Enugu, Oyo, Bayelsa, Rivers, Bauchi and Adamawa, while the APC controls 23. The NNPP, APGA and LP have one state each under their control out of the 36 states in the federation.

 

 

JONATHAN 2.0 LOADING?

Since disclosing his plans to consult widely before taking the bait to contest the presidential election in 2027, former President Jonathan, whose eligibility to run for office again is still a highly contentious issue because he had been sworn in twice as president previously, has divided opinion in the PDP. Expectedly, some party bigwigs want him back. Others vehemently oppose his plan, NEWS WEEK NIGERIA has gathered.

 

Reliable party sources say the internal wrangling in the party has left him with no choice than to explore alliance with another political party. The former President is said to be wary of history repeating itself in the PDP: The disunity in the party in 2015 that contributed to his defeat in that presidential election and the G-5 governor’s rebellion against the party in 2019.

 

Jonathan’s recent visit to the National Chairman of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, Senator David Mark, the first public visit to any political party leader since his reported comeback bid, marks the beginning of what sources describe as the former President’s determination to actualise his ambition.

 

In the company of Mark’s colleague at the Senate, Senator Emmanuel Paulker from Bayelsa State and former Reps Muhammad Bawa, who recently defected from the PDP to the ADC in Taraba State, Jonathan met with some leaders of the ADC in the home of the former President of the Senate, Mark last week.

 

A source at the meeting confided in this newspaper that both Jonathan and Mark “had a one-on-one discussion for about an hour on how to move Nigeria forward.”

 

Although the source clarified that the former President did not appear to be planning a defection to the ADC yet, he emphasised that the governing APC and ADC are the two major political parties to contend with in Nigeria as far as the upcoming 2027 general election is concerned. “Anyone that has elective interest in 2027 will have to choose between both parties,” the source said.

 

The meeting had been timed to coincide with the stakeholders meeting of ADC leaders held a few hours earlier. The ADC Caucus meeting, presided over by Mark, was attended by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar; National Secretary, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola; National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi; former Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai; former Sokoto State Governor, Senator Aminu Tambuwal; former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal; and former Rivers State Governor, Chibuike Amaechi. Labour Party leader and coalition member, Peter Obi was visibly absent, although he was said to have sent his apologies and reaffirmed his commitment to the coalition in a statement issued by Tanko Yinusa, National Coordinator of the Obidient Movement. The main agenda was funding, according to NEWS WEEK NIGERIA checks. But Jonathan’s visit hours later set the ADC leaders thinking.

 

PDP/ADC ALLIANCE?

Sources at the stakeholders meeting and Jonathan/Mark meeting confided in NEWS WEEK NIGERIA that after the former President’s visit, they could foresee the ADC and the PDP having a working agreement for the 2027 election. Presidential primaries are due next year as prescribed by the electoral law.

 

“For now, the question is not whether Jonathan is going to run or not. Even if he is going to run, like any other candidate, he must do so in an atmosphere of unity, on a formidable support base and political structure. At the end of the day, ADC and PDP may work together,” the source told NEWS WEEK NIGERIA, asking not to be unmasked.