A former Minister of Youth and Sports, Solomon Dalung, has suggested that recent defections into the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) are driven by self-interest, particularly concerns over protection from alleged corruption cases.
Naija News reports that Dalung made this assertion during an appearance on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief on Tuesday, following the latest wave of defections.
Dalung’s comments came hours after Governor Sheriff Oborevwori of Delta State, along with the state’s Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) structure, officially joined the APC.
While Oborevwori defended the move as being in the best interest of Delta State, Dalung disagreed with the governor’s reasoning.
Dalung stated, “The wave of defections or the gale of defections of the political elites who are repositioning themselves either for survival, protection, or evasion of prosecution cannot be taken seriously by students of Nigerian politics.”
Dalung emphasised that defections, especially by elected officials, should not be justified based on personal interests but rather be left to the electorate to decide.
“It is the electorate that should decide if an elected officeholder should defect,” he added, critiquing the current trend of political movement.
Governor Oborevwori, however, has argued that the defection of the Delta PDP to the APC would benefit the state, aligning it with the politics of the federal government.
