Ex PDP spokesperson accuses APC of forcing party Governors to join

By Lateef Ibrahim

A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP), Kola Ologbondiyan, has alleged that governors elected on the platform of the party are being harassed to abandon their PDP for the ruling All Progressives Congress, (APC).

Ologbondiyan made this allegation in the wake of the recent meeting between President Bola Tinubu, the suspended Governor of Rivers State, Sim Fubara, and Nyesom Wike, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory.

It would be recalled that in March, following the lingering political conflict between Fubara and Wike, his predecessor, President Tinubu declared a state of emergency in Rivers, and suspended the governor, his deputy, Ngozi Odu, and the State House of Assembly.

The President, however, on Sunday, resolved and united Fubara and Wike in a closed-door meeting, after which they took a photograph smiling.

Meanwhile, two PDP governors, Sheriff Oborevwori of Delta State and Umo Eno of Akwa Ibom, have dumped the PDP for the APC.

Both governors cited the crisis in the PDP as the main reason for their defection.

Speaking on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily and monitored in Abuja yesterday Ologbondiyan dismissed the narrative that the PDP crisis triggers defection to the APC.

According to him, governors elected on the platform of the PDP are being harassed into joining the ruling party ahead of the 2027 election.

The PDP chieftain admitted that the resolution of the conflict between Wike and Fubara by President Tinubu is a loss to the PDP.

“Talking about the Rivers situation, I will be honest and I think that the PDP did all it could, some on a negative side, others on a positive side. I think the takeaway for the Peoples Democratic Party in this matter is that its governors are being harassed.

“They are being humiliated, and whether they can openly say it or not, they are being forced to abandon their party and join the All Progressives Congress and President Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s political party,” he said.

He, however, urged the PDP to put aside whatever has happened in Rivers State and focus on ensuring that its governors are not forced to defect to the ruling party.