Defections, political intolerance and threat of election boycott

On Monday, March 9, 2026, there was a press release that Governor Dauda Lawal of Zamfara State have dumped the Peoples Democratic Party and has decided to pitch his political tent with the ruling party at the center, All Progressives Congress. The development was confirmed on Monday in a statement issued by the governor’s media aide, Nuhu Anka, who said the defection followed his principal’s engagements with party leaders, elders and supporters in the state. According to the governor’s aide, “This decision was reached after wide consultations with political stakeholders and supporters, particularly in view of the prolonged internal crisis, leadership disagreements, and unresolved structural challenges within the PDP at both the national and state levels.”

Recall that PDP after 2023 General Elections had 12 governors under its umbrella but the lingering internal strife within its fold has robbed the party of 10 out of the dozen it had three years ago. Those who had previously defected from PDP are: Governors Sheriff Oborevwori of Delta State, Umo Eno of Akwa Ibom, Douye Diri of Bayelsa, Ademola Adeleke of Osun, Agbu Kefas of Taraba, Ahmadu Fintiri of Adamawa, Caleb Muftwang of Plateau, Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers and Peter Mbah of Enugu. Out of the aforementioned 10, only Governor Ademola Adeleke headed to Accord Party while the remaining nine voted with their feet to the APC. It’s noteworthy that Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf of Kano State also left  the New Nigeria People’s Party to join the APC in January 2026.

As at March 2026, the political map of Nigeria has been redrawn in an unprecedented manner. APC now has 31 state governors in its kitty. PDP has two, Labour Party has one, All Progressives Grand Alliance has one and Accord Party has one. If there was any doubt before about Nigeria being a de facto one-party state, it is now very evident that while Nigeria remains a de jure multiparty democracy, it has effectively become a dominant one-party state. This is because the APC, aside from having more than two thirds of governors; it has also via defections secured an overwhelming majority, in fact more than two-third lead in both chambers of National Assembly (Senate and House of Representatives), State Houses of Assembly, most of the 774 Local Government chairmanship positions and over eighty per cent of the 8,809 councillorship seats.

Is being a de facto one-party state good for our democracy? Not necessarily so. While it makes room for quick passage of legislations and adoption of government policies, it removes the need for bipartisanship in the legislative assemblies as the ruling party can easily have its way in passing any legislation. This played out last month during the passage of the 2026 electoral law. Recall that when there was a division over Clause 60(3) which has to do with electronic transmission of results without a proviso; only 15 senators supported that while 55 were against it. And as it is said in a democracy, while minority will have its say, majority will have its way.

It’s so sad however that the weakened empire of PDP in 2015 is on the verge of collapse. It’s doubtful if the party will be able to field any candidate in the forthcoming elections as the Kabiru Turaki faction which lost out at the Court of Appeal in Abuja last Monday (March 9, 2026) has said it will go and challenge the judgement at the Supreme Court. Meanwhile, party primaries have been scheduled for April and May 2026 in INEC’s revised timetable. The best option left for PDP is to seek out-of-court settlement and speed up the conduct of its congresses and convention while also embarking on the revalidation and registration of new members in line with the new electoral act provision for digitised membership register.

As a political watcher, am concerned with the level of political intolerance being displayed against the African Democratic Congress. The party and its chieftains are routinely singled out for attack by thugs. News report has it that suspected gunmen on Friday, March 6, 2026 reportedly attacked the convoy of former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, on his way to formally register as a member of the ADC in Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State. Some yet-to-be-identified persons also set parts of the ADC office in Ubima ablaze and also attacked Amaechi’s family’s house.

Former presidential candidate, Peter Obi, erstwhile National Chairman of the APC, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, and some chieftains of the ADC were on Tuesday, February 24, 2026 allegedly attacked by suspected thugs in Benin,  Edo State. On October 21, 2025, some suspected political thugs set ablaze the Ekiti state secretariat of the African Democratic Congress. The attack, which occurred in the early hours of the day, razed the party’s office located at Basiri Area of Ado-Ekiti and destroyed several valuables, including plastic chairs, canopies, sound system and office equipment. On September 7, 2025, miscreants, suspected to be political thugs invaded a rally organised by the Lagos State chapter of the ADC. The rally, held at Lion Field in Alimosho Local Council of the state, was organised to receive and welcome the presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 general elections, Peter Obi, and the party’s 2023 governorship flag bearer in Lagos State, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour.

This newspaper reported in its August 30, 2025 edition (online) that chaos erupted at the official inauguration of a transition committee jointly set up by opposition parties in Kaduna State as suspected political thugs stormed the event, attacking participants and vandalising property. The committee brought together members of an APC faction opposed to the state leadership alongside the PDP, Social Democratic Party, NNPP, Labour Party, and the ADC. The launch, held in Kaduna, descended into violence when hoodlums armed with cutlasses, clubs, and stones disrupted the proceedings. If all these attacks on opposition party is being recorded in non-election period, what’s to be expected when party primaries are held and campaigns start? The police and other security agencies should ensure that the growing descent into anarchy is halted.

The Inter-Party Advisory Council on Thursday, March 5, 2026 warned that political parties across the country may boycott the 2027 general elections if controversial provisions in the newly enacted Electoral Act 2026 are not urgently amended. The umbrella body of registered political parties said the law, recently signed by President Bola Tinubu, contains provisions that could undermine internal party democracy and weaken the credibility of the electoral process. Addressing journalists after an emergency meeting with leaders and representatives of political parties at the council’s national secretariat in Abuja, IPAC National Chairman, Yusuf Dantalle, said the council had resolved to mobilise parties nationwide to resist the provisions if the National Assembly fails to correct them. He said that though the Electoral Act 2026 was intended to address anomalies in the Electoral Act 2022, several sections of the new legislation introduced fresh challenges capable of weakening multiparty democracy.

This is ominous and should not be allowed to happen. However, I do not see the NASS amending the 2026 Electoral Act so soon. It may well serve the interest of opposition political parties to approach the court and see if the obnoxious provisions in the electoral act could be expunged on the order of the court.

I.G: @jideojong