The Governor of Taraba State, Agbu Kefas, has suspended his scheduled defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) indefinitely.
Mr Kefas, who was set to be received by the APC national leadership on Wednesday, cited the “deeply troubling” abduction of 25 schoolgirls in Kebbi State as the reason for the postponement.
In a personally signed statement issued on Tuesday, the governor stated that proceeding with a political jamboree while families in Kebbi mourned would be “insensitive” and “morally wrong.”
‘Compassion over politics’
The governor’s stance is a departure from the mood in the country’s political landscape earlier in the week.
“As a father, as a leader, and as a governor whose administration has prioritised security and education, it is morally right and nationally responsible to suspend all major political events until the situation receives the urgent attention it deserves,” Mr Kefas stated.
He emphasised that the safety of Nigerian children must take precedence over partisan realignments.
“My heart is with the families of the abducted children,” he noted, calling for reflection and prayer rather than celebration. “We are here to let people know that our responsibility is to serve our people well… Compassion must take precedence over politics.”
Mr Kefas urged security agencies to intensify rescue efforts and appealed to Nigerians to remain vigilant.
A tale of two responses
The Taraba governor’s decision creates a significant moral juxtaposition with events in Kogi State on Monday.
While Mr Kefas halted his defection plans, Vice President Kashim Shettima, representing President Bola Tinubu, attended a mega-rally in Lokoja to welcome former Governor Idris Wada and other defectors to the APC.
The Kogi event began just hours after the news broke that gunmen had killed a vice principal and a security guard, and abducted 25 students in Kebbi.
Addressing the cheering crowd, Mr Shettima appeared focused on the next general election two years away. He assured the gathering that he would relay their enthusiasm to President Bola Tinubu in Abuja.
“I am going back to Abuja to deliver the message to Mr President,” Mr Shettima said. “The message from the Confluence State today is that President Ahmed Bola Tinubu’s victory in 2027 is total.”
His discussing the 2027 elections while security agencies were yet to locate the abducted students has drawn sharp rebuke from civil society monitors.
Governor Ahmed Ododo, buoyed by the defection of Mr Wada, described the development as a consolidation of the APC’s hegemony in the state.
“The list of the decampees is endless. In Kogi State, opposition has been grounded; Kogi is APC, and APC is Kogi State,” Governor Ododo said, adding that the party’s responsibility was to “serve our people well.”
Former governor Yahaya Bello took the rhetoric further, suggesting that the president need not campaign in the state for his second term.
“We are telling President Bola Tinubu that he does not need to come and campaign for his re-election in Kogi in 2027, because Kogi people are solidly behind him,” Mr Bello stated.
The Presidency subsequently faced a firestorm of criticism, leading to the deletion of a social media post by Mr Shettima’s spokesperson, Stanley Nkwocha, which had announced the vice president’s mission to “celebrate” the defectors.
Critics have pointed out that Mr Shettima, who was the governor of Borno State during the 2014 Chibok schoolgirls abduction, should have been more sensitive to the optics of campaigns while schoolgirls are in captivity.
Calls for rescue, not rallies
Reacting to the incident, former Minister of Education and social activist, Oby Ezekwesili, cautioned the federal government against repeating the mistakes of the past.
Using her official X handle, Mrs Ezekwesili urged the government to immediately prioritize the rescue of the students, citing the handling of the Chibok (2014) and Dapchi (2018) abductions as cautionary tales.
“Those schoolgirls have no reason to spend one day in the enclave of terrorists,” she added.
The stalled ‘Defection Tsunami’
The suspension of Mr Kefas’s defection momentarily halts what political observers have described as a “tsunami” hitting the opposition PDP.
Speculation regarding Mr Kefas’s move had reached a fever pitch on Monday when members of the Taraba State House of Assembly and several State Executive Council members resigned from the PDP and declared for the APC, paving the way for the governor.
Confirming the readiness of the ruling party, the APC National Secretary, Ajibola Basiru, told journalists on Saturday: “The entire National Working Committee members of the APC will receive Governor Kefas on November 19. We are prepared for the event.”
Mr Kefas was poised to become the fourth opposition governor to cross over to the APC in 2025 alone, following a trend critics say threatens to turn Nigeria into a one-party state.
Timeline
The wave of high-profile exits began on 23 April 2025, when Delta State Governor Sheriff Oborevwori crossed over to the APC.
He was followed shortly after by Akwa Ibom State Governor Umo Eno on 6 June.
READ ALSO: ‘Clear Sabotage’: Outrage grows over Kebbi school abduction as governor blames security negligence
The momentum continued into the fourth quarter as Bayelsa State Governor Douye Diri joined the ruling party on 3 November, setting the stage for Mr Kefas’s now-postponed declaration.
Persistent insecurity: A decade of abductions
As the political drama unfolds, the security reality remains grim.
The Kebbi abduction is the latest in a harrowing timeline of school invasions in Nigeria. PREMIUM TIMES analysis of data from the last decade reveals that over 1,000 schoolchildren were kidnapped between 2014 and March 2024.
The trend, which began in the North-east under the Goodluck Jonathan administration, spread across the North-west and North-central zones under former President Muhammadu Buhari, and has persisted into the current Tinubu administration.
Despite repeated assurances by the federal government and huge ransom payments often made by desperate families, the recurring attacks suggest a gap between government pledges and the security reality on the ground.
While the Taraba governor has paused his political calendar to honour the victims, the federal government is yet to issue a comprehensive operational update on the rescue of the Kebbi students, leaving their families in an agonizing wait.
Meanwhile, Mr Kefas stated that a new date for his move to the APC would be announced “after consultations and when deemed appropriate.”
