Damagum: Oborevwori’s defection to APC painful, unexpected

Umar Damagum, acting national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has described the defection of Sheriff Oborevwori, governor of Delta state, to the All Progressives Congress (APC) as unfortunate. 

Damagum spoke on Thursday during the presentation of a certificate of return to Ezenwafor Jude, the party’s governorship candidate in Anambra.

In recent weeks, the PDP has lost several members to the ruling APC. 

Other governors and key PDP members are also reportedly planning to defect to the APC.

Bemoaning Oborevwori’s defection, Damagum said the outcome of the 2027 election will be determined by Nigerians, not by the number of governors a party controls.

“If there’s any state that should not have taken this path, it is Delta,” Damagum said.

“We gave them everything — support for the governor and even the former governor (Ifeanyi Okowa), our vice presidential candidate in 2023. We least expected this action from them.

“This election in 2027 is not about how many governors you have or how many leaders. It is about Tinubu and Nigerians,” Damagum said.

The PDP national chairman said it will be up to Nigerians — who are bearing the brunt of President Bola Tinubu’s policies — to decide whether he remains in office or is voted out.

“The ordinary man is feeling the pain, and the decision is his. So, I want to use this opportunity to tell Nigerians that it is their election. It is APC versus Nigerians,” Damagum said.

“It’s not APC versus any governor or senator or anything but APC versus Nigerians. So, I want to urge all of us to close ranks and rescue ourselves from this hardship that is inflicted on us by design, not any coincidence.

“It is very sad and unfortunate because, to me, if there is any state that should think that way, it is not Delta because the party is very magnanimous.

“I thank God that in their message, they didn’t say that the party did anything wrong to them other than good.

“It is a decision taken by them, but the pains will be in us, not because of anything, but because we have given Delta state all our support, from the emergence of the governor to his predecessor, who also doubled as our vice presidential candidate.

“I think we’ve done it all for them in Delta state. We least expected this action from them.”

Damagum added that the party has weathered even more serious challenges in the past and is still standing strong.