The National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Debo Ologunagba, has warned President Bola Tinubu against what he described as “defection shopping,” cautioning that such political manoeuvres would not guarantee the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) victory in the 2027 general elections.
Ologunagba made this remark on Channels Television’s Morning Brief on Wednesday while reacting to the defection of Enugu State Governor, Peter Mbah, from the PDP to the APC.
He stated that the ruling party’s obsession with attracting opposition members was merely a distraction from its poor governance record and inability to tackle the nation’s economic and administrative challenges.
“I told the president some time ago to stop this endorsement shopping or defection shopping; that will not help him in 2027,” Ologunagba said.
“The election in 2027 is between the APC and the Nigerian people,” he added.
The PDP spokesperson argued that the Tinubu administration was exploiting political defections to divert public attention from its shortcomings.
According to him, “What is going on today is taking us completely away from the failure of the government. The government is doing this to deflect us from the real issues. Every time we are talking about the PDP, the Labour Party or the ANPP, we are losing focus on their failures.”
Ologunagba emphasised that Nigeria’s democracy depended on pluralism and freedom of expression, urging the president to promote tolerance and inclusiveness in governance.
“To the President, he must know that there’s a responsibility on him to ensure that a multi-plural, multi-society like Nigeria must have opportunities for people to express themselves,” he said.
“They may not always agree with you, but you must be able to listen to them and allow them to operate in their own way so that there would be a development of democracy and we can have a virile nation,” he added.
The PDP spokesman insisted that despite the recent wave of defections by some governors, the opposition party remained strong and committed to rebuilding ahead of future elections.
