The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has enlarged its coast with the admission of its top brass in the last two years of the first tenure of President Bola Tinubu.
This followed the defection of governors, senators, members of the House of Representatives and other high-profile opposition figures into the ruling party's folds.
The governors that have defected mainly from the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) to APC include: Sheriff Oborevwori(Delta), Umo Eno(Akwa Ibom), Peter Mbah(Enugu), Siminalayi Fubara(Rivers), and Agbu Kefas(Taraba) who registered with the ruling party while there are strong indications that Abba Kabir Yusuf (Kano) is dumping his New Nigeria People's Party (NNPP) for the broom family.
There is also a gale of defections into the APC by members of the two chambers of the National Assembly; consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives.
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At the last count, about 50 opposition members in the House dumped their parties, particularly the PDP, Labour Party (LP), New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP), and Young Progressives Party(YPP) to the ruling APC.
The defectors include: Hon.Oluwole Oke(PDP, Osun), Hon. Hussein Jallo( PDP, Kaduna), Hon. Adamu Tanko(PDP, Niger),
Hon. Victor Nwokolo (Ika North East/Ika South), Hon. Julius Pondi (Burutu), Hon. Thomas Ereyitomi (Warri Federal Constituency), Hon. Nicholas Mutu (Bomadi/Patani), Hon. Ukodhiko Jonathan (Isoko Federal Constituency), and Hon. Ezechi Nnamdi (Ndokwa/Ukwuani) from Delta left PDP for APC.
Also, Hon. Idem Uyime, Hon. Esin Etim, Hon. Paul Ekpo, Hon. Uduak Odudoh, Hon. Okon Bassey, Hon. Etteh Ikpong, as well as Hon. Mark Esset -all of the PDP and Hon. Emmanuel Ukpong-udo of YPP joined APC from Akwa-Ibom.
Others are Hon. Ajilesoro Taofeek Abimbola and Hon. Omirin Olusanya, both from Osun state as well as Hon. Marcus Onobu from Edo state who equally defected from PDP to APC while four NNPP lawmakers from Kano state, namely Hon. Kabiru Usman, Hon. Abdullahi Sani, Hon. Abdulmumin Jibrin, and Hon.Sagir Koki moved to the ruling party.
Furthermore, six opposition lawmakers from Enugu state and one Plateau state member dumped their parties for the ruling party. They included: Hons Chidi Obetta (PDP, Enugu), Anayo Onwuegbu (PDP, Enugu), Dennis Agbo (PDP, Enugu), Martins George (PDP, Enugu), Nnaji Nnolim (PDP, Enugu), and Daniel Asama (LP, Plateau).
Recently, four members of the House from Rivers state defected from their respective political parties to the APC. They included: Hon. Awaji Inombek (PDP), Hon.Boma Goodhead (PDP), Hon. Manuchim Umezurike (LP), and Hon.Boniface Emerengwa (PDP).
Also, at the last plenary for last year, December 23, 2025, six PDP lawmakers: Hon. Robinson Dekor, Hon. Bob Solomon, Hon. Hart Cyril, Hon. Victor Obuzor, Hon. Blessing Amadi, and Hon. Felix Uche joined the APC.
In the Senate, out of 109 Senators, APC now has a comfortable majority of 78, leaving the opposition with 31. The defectors included: Senators Barinada Mpigi and Onyesoh(PDP, Rivers); Benson Konbowei and Benson Agadaga (PDP, Bayelsa), Sunday Katung (PDP, Kaduna); Adamu Aliero, Yahaya Abdullahi, and Garba Maidoki(PDP, Kebbi), amongst others.
These are in addition to some former governors, lawmakers, ministers, and other political stalwarts and kingpins of opposition parties who moved into the APC.
Political observers have expressed concerns that with the preponderance of this caliber of new entrants with perceived ambition, the party would be heading to implosion if their expectations or those of the existing APC top-notch are not met.
Some argued that such was the fate of the then-ruling PDP when opposition governors, lawmakers, and other chieftains trooped in but could not be contained after the primary elections and other opportunities.
Other pundits cited the case where some highly placed APC chieftains, such as former Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue state, the then Senate President, Senator Bukola Saraki, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, among others, dumped the party ahead of the 2019 general election.
However, APC declared that it has put adequate machinery in place to effectively manage its success and come out strong ahead of the 2027 general election and beyond.
Speaking on the development, the APC Director of publicity, Yusuf Bala Ibrahim told LEADERSHIP that the party will manage the situation by making both old members and new entrants adhere strictly to the party's constitution and play by the rules of the game.
Ibrahim, who cannot say whether there will be automatic tickets for the new governors and lawmakers, assured that the party will provide a level playing field for all its members, irrespective of when they join the APC.
According to him, the political deftness of President Tinubu and the intellectual guidance of 'The Progressive Institute' will be harnessed to address the situation in the best interest of the party and its members.
"This is actually a genuine concern, but you see, the APC as a progressive party is always thinking in line with the dynamics of life. It is not just stationary in mentality and thinking. It is continuously anticipating problems and looking for ways to confront the challenges.
"That is why the APC set up the Progressive Institute. Now, the intention is for issues to be looked at in a scholarly manner, for issues to be given an academic dimension in thinking. All these have been taken into consideration, particularly the fear of implosion.
"Now, the APC is very much aware of what will happen in the event of an overload. When I say overload, I mean, if people move into the boat in a quantum that is bigger than the capacity of the boat, the boat will capsize as a result of overload. Now, the party has considered that and made arrangements for additional space and adjustment in the seating.
"The APC has also anticipated the interest new entrants will bring. And anyone who is defecting from another party is meant to understand that the APC he or she is moving into has a constitution and has a way of doing things. Perhaps, it is because of the way the party is doing things that the new entrants became attracted and decided to join.
"Now, if he or she is joining, he or she must understand he or she has to play by the rules of the boats. So he will not be allowed to come in and rock the boat. His or her interest must align with the interest of the party and the members in the party.
"Everyone is going to be treated equally. Everyone is going to be given a level playing field. Everyone will be asked or expected to enjoy the fruits of the party's labour. There is not going to be any difference between the person who has been at the party from its formation and the person who joined yesterday.
"So these are considerations that have been looked into and are being looked into and will continue to be looked into in such a way when there is absolute stability.
"You see, since the coming of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, he has always been working, if you notice, towards a consensus arrangement. An arrangement that will be rancour-free. An arrangement that will be win-win for everyone.
"What the president, as the leader of the party, wants to avoid is a situation where every time there is an election, you have a split, or you have some people breaking away because they are not satisfied with the arrangement. But if you look through, since he came in these rancours have diminished or have evaporated. They are even gone.
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"Every time there is fear before an election that there is going to be this, there is going to be that the elections come and they go without those things that were anticipated to happen or rupture the cohesion in the party. So the same thing will happen.
"Therefore, I cannot say for sure there will be no automatic tickets Neither can I say there will be automatic tickets. But I can tell you for sure, arrangements are in place to ensure that the elections go in a way that is hitch-free," Ibrahim said.
Another official of the party who does not want his name in print said the decision of the APC to conduct ward, local government, and state congresses next year is to enable the defectors, especially governors, to also have a stake in the party structures.
"The party wants both the newcomers, especially the governors and old leaders in the party, to have a stake so that nobody will cry foul at the end of the day. That is why it is conducting congresses next year so that they can have some ward, local government, and state officials who form the bulk of the delegates at the primary election," the source said.
APC had fixed March 28, 2026, for its National Convention. APC, in a recent post on its X(Twitter), said zonal congresses will be held on March 21, 2026 (across the six geopolitical zones) while state congresses are slated for March 7, 2026.
According to the notice, local government and ward congresses will take place on February 20 and 18, 2026 respectively while
Membership e-registration, which started on December 1, 2025, will end on January 30, 2026.
