The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is gearing up for a legal showdown after a wave of high-profile defections from its ranks in Delta State, including the state governor and several top officials, to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Following an intense six-hour closed-door meeting on Tuesday at its national secretariat in Abuja, the PDP’s National Working Committee (NWC) directed its legal adviser to initiate court actions aimed at reclaiming the party’s “stolen mandate” in the oil-rich state.
Governor Sheriff Oborevwori, his deputy Monday Onyeme, and former governor Ifeanyi Okowa were among those who formally joined the APC on April 23. Their defection, along with numerous commissioners, local government chairmen, and grassroots party members, marked a seismic shift in the state’s political landscape, effectively dismantling PDP’s long-standing dominance.
“This party cannot afford to surrender its future to defectors,” said PDP Acting National Chairman, Ambassador Umar Damagum. “Our national legal adviser has been instructed to take all necessary legal steps to retrieve our mandate.”
The PDP also dissolved all its existing party structures in Delta State, naming South-South Zonal Chairman, Emma Ogidi, to take charge and lead the reorganisation efforts.
As part of its broader recovery strategy, the NWC accepted new recommendations from the PDP Governors’ Forum and announced that the party’s next National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting will be held on May 28, while the National Convention is scheduled for August 28–30, 2025.
The APC has celebrated the defections as more than political re-alignment, calling it a “movement” and a sign of shifting tides ahead of the 2027 elections. The defectors were welcomed by APC heavyweights, including Vice President Kashim Shettima and APC Chairman Abdullahi Ganduje.
The PDP, however, insists it’s not over. “We’re not giving up Delta without a fight,” Damagum declared.
