By Bayo Wahab

Following the ‘political tsunami’ that hit the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Delta State, Kola Ologbondiyan, the party’s former National Publicity Secretary, has maintained that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) will not escape a defection crisis.

On Monday, key political leaders in Delta State, including Governor Sheriff Oborevwori and his predecessor, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, officially defected to the APC. This development left the PDP, which has ruled the state for over two decades, with an empty structure.

Barely two days after the development, another PDP stakeholder, Governor Umo Eno of Akwa Ibom State, hinted about his plan to leave the opposition party.

Even though the wave of PDP defections unsettles the party’s leadership, Ologbondiyan downplays the crisis, saying it is normal for politicians to align and realign ahead of an election.

Speaking during an interview on Arise Television on Wednesday, the PDP chieftain said a defection crisis is already brewing in the APC, adding that some members of the political blocs that formed the APC have started agitating.

Citing the recent move by members of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) bloc to leave the APC, Ologbondiyan predicted that the ruling party is heading for an implosion.

He said, “It is the PDP bell that is ringing now, and everybody is talking about mass defection. I can assure you that very soon, it’s going to start from the APC. I don’t know if it was on this program, but I remember that on this platform, I did say that implosions are going to happen, and implosions will not be limited to the People’s Democratic Party. 

“Even as you speak today, if you have your ears to the ground in the All Progressives Congress, you’re already aware that the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), which the President, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu led into the APC is in tatters, and that is the truth. 

“And I’m sure you saw recently when the CPC, the arm that former President Muhammadu Buhari led into the APC, agitation started. Some people are saying oh, we will not go, we’ll stay in APC, we will not leave. Some people are saying oh, you cannot speak for us. All these accounts point to one fact, implosion is coming.” 

According to Ologbondiyan, the current defection wave in the PDP is “a normal situation” that requires politicians to align and realign.

“So let us sit by and watch the game as it plays out so it’s not a PDP affair alone, it’s something that will go round,” he concluded.

 

Vanguard News