Trending 
A chieftain of the Lagos State chapter of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Kunle Oshobi, has said that governors and senators in opposition parties are coerced and induced to join the ruling party.
The Nigerian political landscape has witnessed a wave of mass defections, with governors, senators and other politicians ditching opposition parties for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). Currently, only two governors are left in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Oshobi, who spoke on Politics HQ, a program on News Central, on Wednesday, said many defecting politicians often cite internal crises as justification for their defection, alleging that the internal crises rocking opposition parties are sponsored.
“We’ve had stories of some governors being offered anything between 200 billion and 500 billion.”
Lagos ADC Chieftain Kunle Oshobi says inducement, coercion and internal party crises are driving recent defections across Nigeria’s opposition ranks, weakening rival parties. pic.twitter.com/3xN4y2PQ8W
— News Central TV (@NewsCentralTV) March 12, 2026
The PDP, which was Nigeria’s ruling party, has been rocked by a leadership and power struggle that has split the party into rival factions, triggering court battles. Analysts say this crisis has weakened the party’s unity ahead of the 2027 elections. Aside from the PDP, other political parties, such as the Labour Party, are also facing internal crises.
“So when we see people jump in, the gale of defections we’ve had of recent, if you ask the people defecting, why are they defecting, they cannot tell you. Many of them make reference to internal crisis in the party they’re leading.Who is causing that internal crisis? These internal crises are sponsored. And we all know who is sponsoring it.” said Oshobi.
There have also been allegations of the ruling party offering incentives to politicians to dump opposition parties and join the APC. Oshobi also highlighted this, adding that some politicians were intimidated and hounded down by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) into defecting.
“We’ve had stories of governors and senators being induced and coerced to join the ruling party. We’ve had stories of some governors being offered anything between $200 billion and $500 billion. We’ve had that. It’s in the news. (0: I’m not saying it,” he added.
“Yes, we’ve heard this in the news. It’s in the news. It’s in the media. We’ve heard stories of coercion. We have stories of intimidation. People are being hounded down by the EFCC just to force them to join the opposition.”
