The leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Kebbi State is making frantic and last-minute efforts to prevent the planned defection of three serving senators to the ruling All Progressives Congress.
Barring any unforeseen circumstances, the senators: Adamu Aliero (Kebbi Central), Yahaya Abubakar Abdullahi (Kebbi North) and Garba Maidoki (Kebbi South), are expected to formally declare their defection to the APC on Tuesday.
This follows a high-level meeting with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
The lawmakers were led to the meeting on Friday by the APC National Chairman, Abdullahi Ganduje and are reportedly set to defect alongside a large number of supporters, including serving and former PDP executives across all three senatorial districts in the state.
The move has rattled the state chapter of the PDP.
It was gathered that on Friday night, the PDP State Chairman, Usman Bello-Suru, summoned an emergency meeting of party stakeholders in a bid to halt the looming political exodus.
A source at the meeting disclosed that members weighed multiple strategies, including the possibility of obtaining a court injunction or making personal appeals to the lawmakers.
However, the consensus was to engage the senators directly and urge them to stay and strengthen the party at a critical time.
“Several options were explored, including legal steps, but it was agreed that the best approach would be to convince them to remain in the PDP and continue building what they’ve helped to establish over the years,” the source said.
However, efforts to reach the senators have proven difficult.
“Since the defection news broke, they have stopped picking calls from the party chairman,” the source added.
This crisis comes just weeks after the same PDP chairman, Usman Bello-Suru, issued a public statement dismissing rumours of defection within the party.
He said then, “In a swift reaction to the insinuations that some members of the PDP in the state are making arrangements to defect to the ruling party, I assure our members that PDP remains one indivisible entity that will continue to play an opposition role in the state.”
The unfolding events appear to contradict that reassurance, especially with a high-profile figure like Senator Aliero, a former two-term governor of Kebbi, ex-Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, and sitting senator, at the centre of the planned defection.
Aliero has been notorious for political cross-carpeting, having previously left and rejoined the PDP.
Some party members, however, remain stoic in the face of the crisis.
“If they decide to leave, life goes on,” a senior PDP chieftain affirmed.
“PDP is like a military barracks, soldiers come, soldiers go, but the barracks remains,” he said.
Should the defections go ahead as expected, the APC’s numerical strength in the 10th Senate will rise to 68, while the PDP will be reduced to 30.
