The National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Debo Ologunagba, has downplayed the defection of Governor Peter Mbah to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), arguing that the PDP’s strength lies with the people, not governors.
Ologunagba, however, acknowledged that the opposition party is battling with challenges, some of which he attributed to external forces.
On Tuesday, Governor Mbah and his cabinet members officially dumped the PDP for the ruling APC.
Mbah’s defection to the APC is the latest political move from governors elected on the platform of the PDP this year.
Earlier, Governor Sheriff Oborevwori of Delta State and Governor Umo Eno of Akwa Ibom State decamped to the ruling party in April and June, respectively.
Both governors cited PDP’s internal crisis and the need to align their states with the FCT as reasons for their defection.
Speaking on Arise Television’s ‘Prime Time’, hours after Mbah’s defection, Ologunagba maintained that governors’ defections do not necessarily impact negatively on the party.
According to him, the strength of the PDP lies in the people, not the governors.
He said, “The PDP is not in coma, it’s not in a vegetative state, yes we have challenges, some of which are external, more damages are the ones within but again, we are working that rope surely towards convention.”
The PDP chieftain argued that the gale of defections in the PDP is orchestrated by the APC through a combination of factors.
Ologunabag said, “What we see today, people are not defecting because of policies, programmes of ideology. People are defecting because of personal interest, inducement, intimidation and coercion.”
He further alleged that the wave of defections from the PDP was being engineered by the APC to weaken the opposition ahead of the party’s national convention scheduled for November in Ibadan.
Despite the setbacks, the PDP spokesman expressed optimism that the party would overcome its challenges and emerge stronger in the months ahead.
He concluded that with or without governors, the strength of the PDP will come to the fore in the 2027 election.
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