The oil-rich Delta State has been pulsating since Wednesday, and reverberations have spread nationwide.
The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has dominated the state for almost 26 years since 1999, when the current political dispensation commenced, and superficially, there seemed to be no immediate threat to its dominance.

However, the governor, Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori and his predecessor, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, sank the state’s PDP ship approximately 72 hours ago. They swam into a rival All Progressives Congress (APC) ferry that was waiting.

In addition to Oborevwori and Okowa, the party’s vice presidential candidate in the 2023 presidential election, defecting to the APC, the PDP’s entire state structure, from the ward to the local government and state levels, was specifically instructed to disintegrate into the APC.

The governor and other participants in the meeting declared their resignations from the PDP.

Shortly after concluding the decision with Okowa and other leaders, Oborevwori walked out of Government House in Asaba with a satisfied swagger, promising anxious reporters waiting to find out what transpired that they would hear from him on Monday.

He revealed that the chairmen of the local government areas and other party members informed him that they would follow him wherever he went.

The vice president, Kashim Shettima, will be present to receive the governor, Okowa, and other officials as they formally declare their support for the APC at the Cenotaph in Asaba on Monday, April 28.

Why Oborevwori, Okowa, others jumped ship — Senator Manager
Explaining the overall realignment that shook the nation, Senator James Manager, the PDP’s first state chairman, revealed that Governor Oborevwori and other members had defected to the APC, claiming the decision was made following thorough discussions with other relevant parties.

He said, ”You have just been told about the things happening in the PDP, Delta State. Some consultations have been going on, and the climax is what you see today.”

“We have discussed and have agreed, and it is a unanimous agreement. I am the pioneer state chairman of the PDP. But you cannot be in a boat already capsizing because I am a riverine man.”


https://www.vanguardngr.com/2025/04/oborevwori-okowas-defection-to-apc-unmistakable-battles-ahead-in-delta/