Defections won’t kill opposition — PDP hits APC

2026-03-16 - 18:07

By Luminous Jannamike ABUJA — The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has accused the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of engineering defections through inducement and pressure, insisting that the strategy will not weaken the opposition or win public support. The remarks come at a time of growing political tension over the wave of defections across the country. The opposition party said the defections being celebrated by the APC are part of a deliberate effort to weaken rival parties and create the impression that the opposition has collapsed, even as it maintains that many Nigerians remain unhappy with the ruling party. The position was contained in a statement by Ini Ememobong, National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, responding to remarks attributed to Felix Morka, National Publicity Secretary of the APC. “For Morka, who is struggling to become a modern-day Joseph Goebbels, he should remember that delusional propaganda does not just destroy a nation but ultimately consumes its proponents, as it did in Nazi Germany under Adolf Hitler. “His defence of the ‘political genocide’ of the APC-led Federal Government is akin to Goebbels’ defence of Hitler’s pogroms and concentration camps. “We have read a statement credited to the National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress, Felix Morka, claiming that the Peoples Democratic Party is no longer a political party because of the defection of some political office holders, a strategy curated and executed by the APC itself. “This statement is most unfortunate and a clear indication that Morka and his cohorts are clearly delusional. “Interestingly, reality shows that despite the large-scale defections secured by force and inducement by the APC, Nigerians have consistently rejected the ruling party which is daily ruining Nigeria and Nigerians. “This is evident in the struggle their party has had with membership registration, where in many states governors have copied the database of state empowerment programmes to populate their state registers. “The recent disruption of the City Boys event in Owerri is a foreshadow of what awaits them all over the country,” Ememobong said. The PDP also said those defending the current administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu would ultimately be judged by history. “We can assure Morka and his ilk in the ruining APC government that when the history of this period is written and the mortal threat to democracy is documented, his name will be boldly written in the pages of infamy as one of those who actively defended the Tinubu maladministration,” the PDP said.