Gale of defections: Voting in Nigerian elections is becoming meaningless

    Olu Fasan | Opinion | Feb 09, 2026    
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By the end of this year, or even earlier, the All Progressives Congress, APC, Nigeria’s ruling party, may control 30 or more of Nigeria’s 36 state governors. Currently, the party has 29 state governors in its fold. Of these 29, only 21 are APC governors by election, the others are APC governors by defection. The gale of defections has swept away eight of the twelve governors of the main opposition People’s Democratic Party, PDP, and deprived the All Nigeria People’s Party, ANPP, of its only governor. The president, Bola Tinubu is fully gung-ho and hands-on in his determination to lure and co-opt virtually all opposition governors into his party ahead of his re-election bid in 2027.

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