- Former minister accuses Akwa Ibom governor of forcing lawmakers to join APC
A former Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Solomon Dalung, has described the ruling All Progressives Congress as a “gathering of sinners,” alleging that politicians defecting to the party are doing so not out of ideological conviction but in search of political absolution.
Speaking in an interview with journalists, Dalung referenced a past comment by former Edo State governor, Adams Oshiomhole, who reportedly said that regardless of the severity of a politician’s past transgressions, joining the APC guarantees forgiveness.
“These are people who have committed heinous crimes against the Nigerian people, and they are jumping into the APC ship for the forgiveness of their sins. Not that they believe in Tinubu—no, they do not. They are only assembling so that their sins will be forgiven,” Dalung stated.
He described the APC as “a conclave of political cardinals who have committed grave sins against the Nigerian people,” adding that the party has become a sanctuary for corrupt politicians seeking immunity.
Dalung, a chieftain of the Social Democratic Party, dismissed the idea that these defections would strengthen the Bola Tinubu administration, warning instead that it would create future instability within the party.
“You know there is an adage in Hausa that says: if animals celebrate the death of a butcher, has the knife also died? If beneficiaries of the people’s mandate are defecting, have the people also defected?
“There is no value added to Tinubu—he has only complicated the situation in his party. An implosion is inevitable,” he warned.
Responding to speculation that former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai’s, alleged interest in the SDP could pose a threat to the 2023 presidential candidate of the party, Adewole Adebayo, Dalung dismissed such concerns.
He said Adebayo remains the dominant political voice in the SDP, asserting that his charisma, media visibility, and consistent critique of the government’s unpopular policies have made him a formidable force ahead of the 2027 elections.
“Nigerians are very familiar with Adebayo’s voice, charisma, and leadership qualities. Whether you mobilise all the politicians into the SDP, you must first reckon with Adebayo as a presidential candidate. No one has promoted the SDP more than him,” Dalung affirmed.
Former minister accuses Akwa Ibom governor of forcing lawmakers to join APC
In a related scene, a former Minister of Lands, Housing, and Urban Development, Nduese Essien, has denied rumours of his defection to the APC following Governor Umo Eno’s recent switch from the PDP to the ruling party.
In a statement he signed, Essien clarified that his presence at the governor’s defection event was simply an act of solidarity as an indigene of Akwa Ibom State and not a declaration of support for the APC.
“I have not defected from any party to another,” he stated, reiterating his status as a neutral elder statesman since his retirement from active politics in 2014.
He commended Governor Eno’s leadership style, describing it as inclusive and mature, while acknowledging that the governor’s defection was a strategic move in response to the PDP’s internal crises and a bid to align with the APC-led federal government for the state’s benefit.
“The governor has taken the right decision to secure his next election on a relatively stable platform,” he said, pointing to the PDP’s “self-inflicted debacle” and absence of internal democracy.
Essien, however, criticized efforts by the governor to pressure state and federal lawmakers as well as local government chairmen into joining the APC, calling it contradictory to the spirit of inclusive governance.
“These elected officers have independent mandates and should be free to make their own political decisions,” he asserted.
He also expressed dismay over a lack of reciprocal support from Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, noting that federal appointments and empowerment schemes under the APC have excluded PDP members and politically neutral stakeholders.
Essien urged political leaders to respect differing views and prioritize peace, stability, and development in Akwa Ibom.
“As an elder statesman, my priority remains the unity, peace, and progress of Akwa Ibom State,” he concluded, calling for mutual respect in the management of political differences.
Fubara’s sins cannot be washed away by joining APC – Okocha
Meanwhile, the Rivers State Chairman of the APC, Tony Okocha, has stated that the suspended Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, must face the full weight of the law, regardless of any potential defection to the APC.
He also said that the sins of the embattled Governor can’t be forgiven even if he joins APC, stressing the offences committed were not political but against the people of Rivers State, according to the judgement delivered by the Supreme Court.
Okocha stated this on Tuesday while addressing newsmen at the APC National Secretariat in Abuja.
Okocha also noted that despite the presidential directive, the suspended governor should have embarked on reconciliatory moves, as a panacea to peace but he lamented that Fubara has yet to initiate such, stating that “no reconciliatory move is ongoing in the state.”
Asked if the governor will be forgiven if he defects to APC, Okocha said, “If Fubara decides to join APC today, his sins cannot be forgiven because his suspension has nothing to do with politics.
“You will jump into the APC today, and your sins are forgiven. That can’t be true. It won’t work that way. Then, it would have made the APC a dumping ground for people who commit misdemeanours and believe that by and large, we will come for reconciliation. No.”
On the presidential directive on reconciliation, Okocha said: “I can confirm that there is no reconciliation effort currently underway in Rivers. The suspended Governor Fubara has not made any move to reconcile with the lawmakers. Only genuine reconciliation can save him from impeachment, as the Supreme Court judgment stands.
“There is no reconciliation ongoing, not to my knowledge, I should know because I am the Chairman of the Rivers APC. I have spoken with all the strata of the society in the state, but none has agreed that the bygone should be bygone.
“The little I know in political science, the President did not take that decision alone. He consulted some stakeholders. He consulted the National Assembly, and the National Assembly ratified it.”
He declared that the Rivers APC leadership is not worried that Fubara has met with the President a couple of times.
“APC is not a dumping ground. He must follow the procedures before he can be admitted. He cannot come through the window. He must come through the door. He has to join his ward.
“Fubara’s suspension and the declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State had no business whatsoever with politics. It was about his misdemeanour, and I said to you that he said that the president saved his job by declaring a state of emergency.
“Don’t forget that the Supreme Court, in its judgment, had said that there was no government in Rivers State. So, if there was no government in Rivers State, something must be done, and that which happened was the declaration of the State of Emergency…
“If Fubara decides to join the APC, it has nothing to do with a state of emergency in Rivers state. His sins cannot be forgiven because he came to our party. It is not true. He has not spoken to me. He will enter the party through the door, not the window. Not only him.”