President Bola Tinubu is currently in a closed-door meeting with Delta State Governor Sheriff Oborevwori at the State House in Abuja. Governor Oborevwori, who arrived at the State House around 3:45 p.m. on Tuesday, is holding his first official engagement with the President since his highly publicized defection to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Oborevwori, who was once a prominent member of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), made a significant political move on April 23, when he led a large-scale defection in Delta State. The governor, along with his predecessor, former PDP vice-presidential candidate Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, and Deputy Governor Monday Onyeme, officially joined the APC during a strategic meeting held in Asaba.
This defection, which also saw key members of Oborevwori’s cabinet, local government chairmen, and other influential figures make the switch, marked the first time a sitting Delta governor has left the PDP since the return of democracy in 1999. In a further sign of the APC's growing influence in the region, the Speaker of the Delta State House of Assembly, Hon. Emomotimi Guwor, along with 21 members of the House, also joined the APC following the governor’s decision.
Today’s meeting between President Tinubu and Oborevwori signals a deeper consolidation of APC's political hold in the South-South region, an area where the party has been steadily gaining ground. There are reports suggesting that other prominent political figures, including Governors Umo Eno of Akwa Ibom, Peter Mbah of Enugu, Abba Yusuf of Kano, and Rivers Governor Siminalayi Fubara, are being courted by the ruling party for future defections.
The wave of defections is having a significant impact on the opposition parties, including the PDP, Labour Party, and NNPP, which are now grappling with internal crises and struggles to maintain cohesion amid the APC's growing dominance in Nigerian politics.
