Defections not a threat to PDP – Bode George

A former Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Bode George, says the recent defection of key politicians from the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, in Delta State poses no real threat to the opposition party ahead of the 2027 general elections.

George stated this during an interview on ‘Politics Today’, a programme on Channels Television on Friday, describing the defections as a familiar political episode that holds little long-term consequence for the PDP.

This comes following the defection of Delta State Governor, Sheriff Oborevwori, his deputy, Monday Onyeme, and former Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, along with several commissioners and political stakeholders in the state, to the APC on Wednesday.

George, when asked about the mass movement of PDP members in Delta, reportedly including former governor James Ibori and other political heavyweights, dismissed any concerns.

“Nothing. Nothing. The fact that these guys moved en masse… the people of Delta are waiting. Because what impact has the APC, as a government, given to the people?

“There is anger in the land. What do you think they are going to do there, if not for personal embellishment?

“The people of Delta are naturally PDP members. They know the kind of positive impact they enjoyed under the PDP national government.

“So, if you now decide to go, we wish you the best of luck. We’ve seen it before—those who trooped out eventually came back, because they’re heading into an organisation that is so personally owned,” the former Ondo State military governor said.

When pressed further about the significance of losing such a wide array of political figures, including the vice-presidential candidate of the PDP in 2023, Okowa himself, the 79-year-old remained unshaken.

“Is it new in the land? You’ve forgotten the time when heavyweights left during the national convention of our party? Let me ask you— those already in APC, do you think they’ll fold their arms and say ‘welcome’?

“They have their ambitions too—governorship, National Assembly, local government. You can’t just waltz in and take over,” he added.

According to him, such defections were part and parcel of Nigeria’s political terrain and do not signify the collapse of the PDP.

The PDP board of trustees (BoT) member,
while responding to the suggestion that the latest wave of defections, including endorsements of President Bola Tinubu by PDP governors, could mark a breaking point for the party, reiterated that the development is merely transitional.

Defections not a threat to PDP – Bode George