Lasun Alagbe
The re-election plan of President Bola Tinubu seems to have received a big boost as Delta State Governor Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori is said to have formally defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the ruling All Progressives Congress.
This happened less than a week after PDP governors declared at a meeting in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, that the party would not join any coalition.
Delta State is a big South-South entity in national political calculation.
Apart from its relatively ample population, it is a rich state, a factor that observers says is key especially in the money politics that is Nigeria’s lot.
In 2023, Oborevwori’s predecessor, Ifeanyi Okowa, was believed to have been a major funder of the PDP’s Abubakar Atiku’s presidential adventure.
Reports said he too, alongside other PDP members in the state, are moving with Oborovwori.
It will thus be interesting to see the role the migrating successor will play in 2027.
According to ‘The Nation’, the announcement of his defection came on Wednesday after a closed-door meeting held at the Government House in Asaba.
According to sources close to the development, the decision followed “extensive consultations with political stakeholders” and was said to be made in the interest of the state’s long-term growth and development.
Governor Oborevwori, who was elected on the PDP platform in 2023, was officially received into the APC by senior party officials.
Political observers have described the move as a major realignment that could reshape the political landscape of Delta State ahead of the 2027 general elections.
While Governor Oborevwori has yet to make a public statement on the defection, sources say further details on the rationale behind the move may emerge in the coming days.
