In the decaying theater of Nigerian politics, the rotting underbelly of Nigeria’s political class once again revealed itself in full display after another actor ripped off his costume mid-performance to bow before a new master. Governor Sheriff Oborevwori of Delta State, elected under the tattered but distinct flag of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has crossed the bloodied carpet and shamelessly decamped to the ruling All-Progressives Congress (APC) – the very party he opposed just a year ago. What was sold to the Delta electorate as a mandate of hope has now been traded in a dark room, in a closed-door meeting, for political convenience, personal ambition, or worse, immunity from future prosecution. With this single act, Governor Oborevwori, a merchant of betrayal, not only defiled the sanctity of the ballot; he urinated on the graves of democratic ideals.
Let us be clear: this is not politics. This is treachery dressed in agbada. When an opposition governor defects to the ruling party, it is not a “strategic realignment” – it is electoral fraud after the fact. The people of Delta State voted for the PDP platform, its ideology (or what’s left of it), its promises, and its supposed difference from the suffocating, corrosive, hegemony of the APC. That vote has now been rendered meaningless. The Delta people entrusted Oborevwori with their mandate – not as a man, but as a vessel of an idea, a promise, a resistance to the APC. And now, that trust lies in ruins, bartered away behind closed doors under the gilded chandeliers of treachery, with not a whisper to the people who bestowed him power. What then is the point of elections if the opposition can simply be bought over?
No, this betrayal is not “in the interest of Delta’s development.” This is a personal redemption arc for a hollow man hoping to escape the gallows of accountability.
Let there be no euphemisms, no polite press statements from trembling spokesmen: this is betrayal, pure and unvarnished – treason against the electorate in everything but law. The pretext is always the same: “in the interest of development,” “after wide consultations,” “for the good of the people.” But the people are never consulted. No referendum is held. No public hearings. Just backroom deals, press releases, and press secretaries who spin betrayal into strategy. Governor Oborevwori’s move is part of a disgraceful tradition in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic – a political culture where ideology is absent, party platforms are ornamental, and loyalty is to self-preservation, not service. It is an elite musical chair where parties exist not to serve citizens but as revolving doors to power, protection, and patronage.
This unholy defection is not an isolated sin – it is a ritual desecration now practiced by nearly every ambitious coward who stares into the mirror and sees neither ideology nor integrity, only the hollow reflection of a man desperate to remain in the banquet hall of power. Governor Oborevwori’s is not a singular offense. From David Umahi in Ebonyi, to Ben Ayade in Cross River, to Bello Matawalle in Zamfara – the list of governors who abandon the very parties that gave them legitimacy grows like a virus. Like moths drawn to the flame of federal largesse, they flock to the ruling party not out of vision, but out of hunger – for contracts, for protection, for immunity from the wrath of a future government.
They defect, they are rewarded, they are recycled, and the electorate is left with the illusion of choice.
What manner of democracy is this, where opposition is not defeated, but absorbed? Where elections are merely a preamble to defection? Where governors abandon the people’s will like a coat in the rain?
Such defections erode public trust in democracy. They reduce opposition politics to theater. They destroy accountability. And they reinforce the very worst message to the youth of this nation: that power is not earned through conviction, vision, or principle, but through alignment with the highest bidder. If Governor Oborevwori truly believes that the APC is now the path to “Delta’s development,” if he truly seeks to align with APC, then let him resign from the stolen throne and seek a fresh mandate under the APC flag. Let him walk into the public square in Asaba and confess: “I no longer believe in the platform on which you elected me.” Let the people decide. Anything less is cowardice clothed in regalia.
Governor Oborevwori’s betrayal is not just political; it is metaphysical. It wounds the soul of a nation struggling to believe in anything beyond survival. His move confirms what the masses have long suspected: that Nigerian politics is not about parties, policies, or people – it is a brothel of ambition, and every man has his price. These defectors are not leaders; they are looters of legitimacy. Vultures circling the carcass of credibility. They wear agbada stitched with lies and speak with tongues forked by expedience. They do not serve the people; they serve themselves and the cabals they kneel before like court jesters in a dying empire. And yet, they are rewarded. Not with shame, but with committee appointments, state banquets, and applause from the same courtiers who feign outrage at corruption. The entire political ecosystem is complicit in this farce. What is the value of a vote if it can be tossed aside like refuse after the election day drums fall silent?
Until defection is met with disqualification – until the Constitution grows a spine – this republic will remain a haunted house, echoing with the footsteps of fraudsters who enter through the front door and exit through the back with the nation’s soul in their pockets. Until defections trigger automatic loss of seat or at least require a new election, Nigerian democracy will remain a hostage of political profiteers masquerading as public servants. This is not the behavior of a nation preparing for greatness. It is the slow, steady betrayal of a republic by those sworn to protect it. Let history record this not as a political “realignment,” but as what it truly is – a defection from principle, a desecration of democracy, and an act of supreme dishonor. And hopefully, the people of Delta State will also remember it come 2027.
