Presidency mocks Atiku, El-Rufai’s coalition after Oborevwori, Okowa’s defection to APC

The Presidency has responded to the defection of Delta State Governor Sheriff Oborevwori and his predecessor, Ifeanyi Okowa, from the People’s Democratic party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) by mocking former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, and other opposition leaders over their planned coalition to unseat President Bola Tinubu in 2027.

The Delta State governor, his predecessor and all PDP members in the state defected from the PDP to the APC on Wednesday, April 23.

Oborevwori announced the defection through his Commissioner for Information, Charles Aniagwu.

“In taking that decision, we concluded that leaving the PDP was very necessary for us to be able to collaborate and build a state that every Deltan will be proud of. We believe that what is happening, and the state of the PDP, is akin to that palm wine whose taste has changed — and there was a need for us to change the drinking party,” Aniagwu stated.

James Manager, a former senator, also announced the PDP members’ defection after a meeting that lasted several hours at Government House, Asaba, the state capital.

He said, “All PDP members in the state, including the governor, former Governor Okowa, the Speaker, the state party chairman, all the local government chairmen and others, have agreed to move to the APC. We cannot continue to be in a sinking boat.”

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Okowa was the running mate to Atiku Abubakar, the PDP presidential candidate in the 2023 election.

Responding to the defection on X, the Special Adviser on Information and Strategy to the President, Bayo Onanuga, wrote that the coalition, which also has a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal and Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Political Matters, Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, who has just resigned, was bound to collapse.

“Atiku’s political future looks bleak. The coalition that he, El Rufai, Babachir, and new member Baba-Ahmed are cobbling together has disintegrated. Potential allies, including former running mate Ifeanyi Okowa and defunct CPC members, are giving his leprous group a wide berth. Atiku is a loser again.” he stated.

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