The governor of Delta State, Sheriff Oborevwori, his predecessor, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, were on Monday formally received into the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) amidst pomp and ceremony in Asaba, the state capital, with the ecstatic national chairman of the party, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje boasting that more opposition governors would soon join the APC.
Newsmata.com.ng reports that on Wednesday April 23, 2025, the entire Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) structure in Delta State dissolved into the APC as the governor announced their dumping of the party on which platform they were elected to office, thus ingloriously ending the party’s 26 years’ dominance of the state.
Handing over the APC flag to Governor Oborevwori at the ceremony held at the Cenotaph and witnessed by a mammoth crowd, Ganduje, former Kano State governor, said, “I have to thank our 21 executive governors.
“Now, this is the 22nd governor. I have to thank all of them for being on ground. And let me tell you, I hope your ears are open, I hope your eyes are open. We shall see very soon, more and more will come in”.
Addressing the crowd, Governor Oborevwori described his defection alongside his cabinet and other stakeholders from PDP as “a movement” rather than a mere political shift.
He said, “What you have seen here today is a movement, not a defection. We have consulted stakeholders at all levels. When you consult widely, you can see that the love is organic.
“Mr. President has supported us; he has shown us love. We cannot face him in 2027 to work against him. That love that he has shown us in Delta, we need to reciprocate it. We cannot do itin our old party. We have to be inside to do it and to do it well.
“This is a movement. This is not a defection. We have agreed we’ll move together, and when we move together, what is in national, we’re able to grab it”.
Also speaking at the grand reception, Okowa, former vice-presidential candidate of the PDP in the 2023 general elections, insisted that the move was made in the interest of the state and its people.
Said the former governor: “It is a great day for us in Delta State. When the news broke out on Wednesday, the 23rd of April 2025, that we had decided to change our path, people wondered why.
“But one thing is very important: in the history of a people, there is always a time to change a path for the common good of the people, and whatever decision that we took was based on that common good and the need to change our path in the best interest of our state.
“As I did tell people that day, it was not about me, it was not about the governor, but the fact that there is a need for us to connect to Abuja. That goodwill that is in Abuja, that resource that is in Abuja of which Delta is a large contributor, there is a need to connect to it.
“I was governor for eight years; I did my best, but we lost a lot, and I did not believe that the governor needed to stay working very hard without tapping into that. But as the governor is doing a lot for us, he also needs to connect to the greater source of power, resources, and goodwill in Abuja”.