NIGERIA’s opposition parties suffered another major setback on Friday following the defection of Plateau State Governor, Caleb Mutfwang, to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), further consolidating the party’s dominance across the country.
News Point Nigeria reports that Mutfwang’s move comes barely weeks after Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, defected to the APC on December 9, signalling an accelerating wave of high-profile defections ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Political calculations suggest the ruling party’s influence may expand even further, as Kano State Governor, Abba Yusuf, is reportedly on the verge of joining the APC amid a lingering crisis within the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP).
The Kano State chapter of the APC confirmed that Governor Yusuf’s defection was imminent, stating that he was expected to formally join the party in the coming days.
Findings indicate that Mutfwang’s defection has extended the APC’s control to 28 states, including four states previously regarded as traditional strongholds of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Should Governor Yusuf complete his defection, possibly as early as Monday, the APC would control 29 states, intensifying concerns among political observers about Nigeria’s gradual drift toward a one-party dominant system.
With the latest development, the **PDP is now left with just four states; Oyo, Bauchi, Zamfara and Adamawa—**while the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Labour Party (LP) and Accord Party collectively govern the remaining three states.
The recent defections have also swept through parts of the South-South and South-East, with politically strategic states such as Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Enugu, Imo and Delta increasingly aligning with the APC, eroding the PDP’s long-standing regional dominance ahead of the 2027 polls.u
During a ceremony held on Friday at the Rayfield Government House in Jos, Governor Mutfwang was formally received into the APC and presented with his party membership card by the Plateau State Chairman of the APC, Rufus Bature.
Addressing party leaders and supporters, Mutfwang pledged to mobilise one million additional votes for President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 presidential election.
He declared unwavering loyalty to the President, saying he had committed to Tinubu’s leadership shortly after the 2023 election.
“One thing I declared to Mr President when I first met him on the 3rd of June, 2023, is that I am committed to his presidency and his re-election,” the governor said.
“Today, I want to affirm that I am a believer in his leadership. Things may not have met everybody’s expectations, but I know his determination to fix the challenges of Nigeria, and I am ready to embark on that journey.”
Mutfwang explained that his defection would allow Plateau State to have a stronger voice in national affairs.
“I believe that the step I am taking today will ensure that my counsel is no longer seen as that of an outsider, but of someone from the inside—by design—to ensure that Plateau is well represented in national conversations,” he added.
Emphasising unity and inclusiveness, the governor assured former party members that his defection was not an act of hostility.
“Those who are left behind in the PDP are not my enemies. They are my friends and my brothers,” he said.
The event was attended by prominent APC figures, including former governors Joshua Dariye and Simon Lalong, as well as the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Bernard Doro, among others.
Reacting to the growing defection wave, the PDP dismissed claims that the loss of governors amounted to the collapse of its political strongholds.
Speaking with this newspaper, the party’s spokesperson, Ini Ememobong, argued that defections do not automatically translate into electoral dominance.
“Governors are defecting, senators are defecting. It doesn’t mean that the stronghold is no longer a stronghold,” he said.
He stressed that political strength is ultimately determined at the ballot box, not by the movement of elected officials.
“Democracy is a game of numbers. Election is the examination, and the result of the election is what determines who has won what,” Ememobong said.
Citing the 2023 elections, he noted that opposition parties had won states traditionally controlled by the APC, including Lagos, which was won by the Labour Party in the presidential poll.
Ememobong also raised moral concerns, arguing that defecting officeholders bear a responsibility to voters who elected them under a different party platform.
Meanwhile, the NNPP said it was not alarmed by speculation surrounding the planned defection of Kano State Governor Abba Yusuf.
Rumours intensified after a viral video showed Yusuf’s Director of Protocol, Abdullahi Rogo, claiming that political appointees, lawmakers and local government chairmen had resolved to follow the governor into the APC.
The development prompted the party’s presidential candidate in the 2023 election, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, to convene an emergency meeting of party leaders in Kano.
However, the NNPP’s National Publicity Secretary, Ladipo Johnson, said consultations were ongoing and urged patience.
“We are not at the stage of being worried yet. We are looking inward to understand what is really going on,” Johnson said.
In a more dismissive tone, the factional National Secretary of the party, Oginni Olaposi, claimed Governor Yusuf had already been suspended and was no longer a member of the NNPP.
“Abba Yusuf is free to go wherever he wants to go. He is more of a liability than an asset,” Olaposi said, adding that neither Yusuf nor Kwankwaso posed a threat to the party’s survival.
Amid the uncertainty, the NNPP National Working Committee has dissolved its Kano State executive, as well as all local government and ward structures, and announced plans to install a caretaker committee.
As defections continue to redraw Nigeria’s political landscape, analysts say the coming months will determine whether the APC’s growing dominance translates into electoral supremacy—or sparks a renewed opposition realignment ahead of 2027.