Defection season is open: a senator, a party chairman and thousands of members change sides in Kwara
In Ekiti local government area of Kwara State, former senator Simeon Ajibola, a former APC chairman and a crowd organisers put at about 6,000 have crossed from the ruling APC to the PDP. It is the latest move in a two-way traffic of defections — lawmakers have also been leaving the PDP — as Nigeria's parties re-form for 2027.
Key points
- The Kwara defection was led by former three-term senator Simeon Sule Ajibola and former APC elders' forum chairman James Bamisaye Ayeni, at a ceremony in Osi, Ekiti LGA.
- Organisers put the number of defectors at about 6,000 across the LGA's ten wards — a figure from the receiving side, not an independent count.
- In the House of Representatives, a recent round of defections cost the PDP five members and the APC two.
- Flows run both ways: in September, a reported 1,500 PDP members in another Kwara ward joined the APC.
What happened
Defections are the traditional opening act of a Nigerian election cycle, and the 2027 cycle — presidential poll on 16 January — is no exception. The moves so far describe a market, not a march: the APC has lost a former inspector-general of police in Nasarawa and sitting senators over primaries and grievances, while the PDP has lost sitting lawmakers to the APC, the ADC and Accord.
Kwara is a useful lens because both directions are visible in one state. The PDP there is led statewide by former Senate President Bukola Saraki; Ajibola said the PDP's structures in Kwara South would be deployed for the party, while APC receivers in the same state have spent the autumn welcoming PDP defectors with the opposite promise.
Claim by claim
Why this label: Reported by ThisDay and carried by 234Radio; Ajibola was represented at the event by his brother, Engineer Tunde Fakayode.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why this label: The figure comes from the defection's organisers and the receiving party. Crowd and membership numbers at defection ceremonies are routinely supplied by the hosts and are not independently audited; we report the number as claimed.
On the ladder: the evidence so far sits low — early, single or social sources. We publish the claim as a claim, never as fact.
Why this label: Named moves in the same report: Abubakar Abdul (Niger) PDP to APC; Yakubu Noma (Kebbi) PDP to ADC; two Osun lawmakers PDP to Accord; David Fuoh (Taraba) APC to PDP; Bashir Zubair (Kaduna) APC to ADC; Thaddeus Attah (Lagos) LP to ADC.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why this label: The 1,500 figure is the receiving party's, like the 6,000 above — reported as claimed. The reception event itself is separately reported.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why this label: A common opposition charge. Deputy Speaker Kalu argues the two-way flow proves the opposite — 'people are leaving the majority party to the minority parties and the minority parties to the majority party.' The traffic data in this story supports movement in both directions; what it adds up to is a judgement, not a count.
On the ladder: credible sources conflict, so we show both workings. One side's own statement is that side's position — never proof.
What we know / what we don't know yet
What we know
- The named leaders' moves and the House defections are reported with names, seats and parties.
- Both major parties are gaining and losing members in the same states.
What we don't know yet
- The true size of the grassroots defections — every big number in this story comes from an interested side.
- How many of the defectors appear on the membership registers INEC now enforces — the rule at the centre of the governorship-list dispute.
Why it matters
Defections decide primaries, and primaries — under the membership-register rules the Supreme Court has just restored — decide who is even allowed to run. A politician who crosses late, or whose name is missing from a new party's submitted register, may find the move costs them the ticket it was meant to win.
Update history
No silent edits. Every change is written here, with its time.
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