Senate President Godswill Akpabio has hinted at a fresh wave of defections from opposition parties to the All Progressives Congress (APC), saying President Bola Tinubu’s reforms are beginning to attract support across party lines.
Speaking in Owerri at the launch of Governor Hope Uzodimma’s book Ten Years of Impactful Leadership of the APC Administration in Nigeria and during the commissioning of projects, Akpabio praised Tinubu’s leadership. He said the president’s performance in the past two years had silenced many doubters. “Mr. President, with what you have done in the last two years, get ready to receive more governors from the opposition. As I speak, many are already preparing to join you,” he told the gathering. According to him, ordinary Nigerians are already testifying to the results of Tinubu’s policies.
While the APC celebrated possible gains, cracks within the opposition were becoming more visible. Salihu Lukman, a founding member of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), warned that the party’s chances in the 2027 elections were being undermined by internal power struggles.
Lukman, who previously resigned from the APC over claims of poor internal democracy, accused some ADC leaders of backing aspirants seeking to take control of the party structure to the exclusion of others. He appealed to Kaduna political figures, including former governor Nasir el-Rufai, Jaafaru Sani, and Bashir Saidu, to stop encouraging what he described as “the madness” of those trying to hijack the party.
The ADC also accused the Tinubu administration of plotting to strip Nigeria of its national wealth through the planned sale of key assets, including the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL). At a press briefing in Abuja to mark Nigeria’s 65th Independence anniversary, the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, argued that despite the sacrifices of the country’s founding fathers, Nigeria continues to stumble under the weight of what it called APC’s failures.
The party voiced strong opposition to the proposed amendments to the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), describing them as a calculated attempt to weaken NNPCL, dismantle institutional checks, and pave the way for what it called a “fire-sale” of the nation’s most valuable assets to politically connected individuals.
“We have carefully examined the proposed amendments and are convinced that this action is part of a deliberate effort to hollow out NNPCL and hand over public assets to private interests,” the ADC said. “This represents regression, not reform, and it must be resisted.”
Zoyols Blog reports that while Akpabio is confident of further defections to the APC, the growing disquiet within the ADC reflects the deepening tensions that could reshape Nigeria’s political landscape ahead of 2027.
