Despite concerns about the state of the economy and worsening insecurity in the country, the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, has continued to hugely benefit from unbroken stream of high profile defections into its ranks.

Indeed, the former self-styled “largest party in Africa” which once boasted it would rule for 60 years – the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP – has been a lucrative gold mine for the APC, especially in the past 10 years the latter has been in power.

Former powerful leaders in PDP’s hey days – a former Vice President, Abubakar Atiku; former governors, senators (including two former Senate Presidents, Ken Nnamani and Pius Anyim), other lawmakers, ministers and other party leaders – have jumped ship at one time or the other.

Indeed, former President Goodluck Jonathan and his wife, Patience, were very close to joining the party that flushed them out of power in 2015 to run again on its platform at former President Muhammadu Buhari’s pleasure in 2022, if not for the outrage from Jonathan’s political base.

Perhaps the mother of all defections took place last week when the entire political and governmental machinery of the PDP in Delta State, led by its Governor, Sheriff Oborevwori, moved over to the APC. The way things are going, the same trend could follow suit in Rivers State where “suspended” Governor Siminalayi Fubara is struggling for political survival, and Akwa Ibom where Governor Umo Eno, has been cuddling with Senate President Godswill Akpabio of the APC.

If this happens, the PDP will lose its prized South-South resource-rich home base which it has dominated for 26 years. Already, the zone’s next door neighbour, the South-East, has only one PDP state (Enugu) down from five. Even the zone’s sole PDP governor, Peter Mbah, appears to be eyeing the APC towards 2027.

Decamping is normal in democracies. In the USA, Donald Trump, Elon Musk, Robert Kennedy Jr, Tulsi Gabbard and others who used to be Democratic Party members and sympathisers are now running the country on the Republican Party’s platform. They felt the Democrats were drifting too far left and destroying America. It was purely based on ideology.

But here in Nigeria, most defectors are driven by the bread and butter factor toward the party in power. Some defect with hope to be “forgiven” of their crimes while in power as former APC Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, promised. Others are motivated by the need to win elections. Ideology and good governance have very little to do with it.

Checks and balances designed to prevent one-party dictatorship are rapidly disappearing. We are losing our democracy. Our politicians don’t care about the people. Despite bad governance, APC is growing out of constitutional proportion.

Unless the people organise to take back their democracy, we may be in for a civilian dictatorship worse than military rule.