Former Osun State governor and National Secretary of the African Democratic Congress, Rauf Aregbesola, has warned the All Progressives Congress not to bank on governors alone for victory at the polls.
“Elections are decided by the people, not by whoever sits in Government House,” he said on Tuesday in Abuja while presenting Bolaji Abdullahi’s memoir, *The Loyalist*.
Aregbesola pointed to the 2023 results in the South-West and South-East as proof.
His comment came barely 24 hours after Kano governor Yusuf Abba left the New Nigeria Peoples Party for the APC. Seven other PDP governors—Umo Eno (Akwa Ibom), Sheriff Oborevwori (Delta), Peter Mbah (Enugu), Douye Diri (Bayelsa), Agbu Kefas (Taraba), Siminalayi Fubara (Rivers) and, most recently, Caleb Mutfwang (Plateau)—have done the same.
Scores of National Assembly members, state lawmakers, ex-governors and former ministers have also crossed over.
President Bola Tinubu and other APC leaders reject claims that the wave of defections points to a one-party future, insisting the door is open to every Nigerian.
Aregbesola, who quit the APC for the ADC last year, wants the ruling party to walk the talk.
“I still have something to say,” he told the gathering. “The defections worry those of us who call ourselves democrats. But the last election figures don’t back the idea that governors automatically deliver votes. Let APC commit to a free, fair and credible 2027 poll—we’ll see what really happens.”
He added: “Take the South-West and South-East results. APC controlled all but one South-West state…”
