There are strong indications that more governors elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) may have been making plans to dump the party any time soon.
This is just as the chances of the party appearing on the 2027 ballot get dimmer by the day. The troubled opposition party has lost no fewer than seven of its 12 governors to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), and one to the Accord Party within a space of ten months – from April 2025 to January 2026.
Governors Sheriff Oborevwori (Delta), Umo Eno (Akwa Ibom), Peter Mbah (Enugu), Diri Douye (Bayelsa), Siminalayi Fubara (Rivers), Agbu Kefas (Taraba), and Caleb Mutfwang (Plateau), had at different points within the period, dumped the PDP for the APC.
On his part, Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun State, defected to the Accord Party in late 2025, when his attempts to join the APC were frustrated by the Osun chapter of the ruling party.
THE WHISTLER investigation revealed that of the four governors left in the PDP, three are reportedly considering moving to the African Democratic Congress (ADC), while one is said to be eyeing the APC.
The remaining PDP Governors are Seyi Makinde (Oyo), Bala Mohammed (Bauchi), Dauda Lawal (Zamfara) and Ahmadu Fintiri (Adamawa).
Reports further indicate that while Makinde, Mohammed and Lawal may be considering the ADC, Fintiri is alleged to be looking in the direction of the APC.
Apparently, the governors are becoming increasingly apprehensive of the possibility of getting stranded, as it’s becoming clearer that the PDP may be excluded from participating in the 2027 general election.
A protracted leadership crisis has left the PDP fractured, with two opposing factions laying claim to the leadership structure at the national level.
The divisions have spread to the state and regional levels, with divided loyalties towards the leadership of the two opposing camps.
Recall that a faction loyal to the Oyo Governor Makinde, had in November 2025, elected Mr Kabiru Turaki, SAN, as its National Chairman at its national convention held in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.
The convention, which was convened against two separate court restraining judgments, had since been rejected by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), which declined to observe or endorse the exercise.
The other faction, being promoted by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has Mr Abdulrahman Mohammed as its National Chairman.
The two factions had in late 2025, traded expulsion orders, culminating in the dramatic disclaimer on Wike and a dozen of his loyalists.
In another dramatic move, the minister’s camp countered with the suspension of Turaki, Makinde, Mohammed and other leaders of the camp.
Following the unresolved leadership issues, INEC has withheld official recognition from the two waring factions. The electoral umpire still retains the names of Umar Damagum and Samuel Anyanwu as the party’s National Chairman and National Secretary respectively on its portal.
However, Damagum and Anyanwu’s four-year tenure had expired in the first week of December 2025, making them ineligible to continue to retain the two positions.
The unresolved internal disputes have fractured the PDP national leadership structures, weakened cohesion at state levels and raised questions about the party’s ability to meet statutory requirements for participation in the next general election.
THE WHISTLER further learnt that the move by the governors to join the ADC, is allegedly being coordinated by Makinde. The plan, according to insiders, is for the bigwigs to move to the ADC as a bloc, with their respective PDP state structures in tow.
It’s also gathered that while the three governors are reportedly coordinating the realignment moves in their respective states, similar arrangements at the national level are being coordinated by the National Chairman of their faction, Turaki.
“They need to move as a bloc to enable them strike a meaningful bargain with their prospective new party in the power sharing arrangements ahead of the 2027 election.
“Their leaders have reasoned that they should be able to retain their identity as one of the legacy parties morphing into the ADC for a strong collective bargain that will put them at par with others in the coalition,” an insider source said.
The ADC is a coalition of aggrieved politicians who left their original parties as a result of internal power struggles and divisive battles for the control of party structures.
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar is one of the key promoters of the ADC, which currently has a former President of the Senate, David Mark as National Chairman.
Atiku and Mark, who now form the nucleus of the ADC, had joined the coalition from the PDP, but they did not belong in the same power bloc with Governors Makinde and Mohammed during their time in the PDP.
Also, the incumbent ADC National Secretary, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, leads the APC bloc in the coalition. Aregbesola, a former Interior Minister and two-term governor of Osun State, had parted ways with the ruling party, owing to irreconcilable differences.
Similarly, Mr Peter Obi, who officially joined the ADC from the Labour Party on December 31, 2025, is the undisputed leader of the Labour Party bloc in the coalition.
“So somebody must also lead the PDP bloc to ensure that the members are not shortchanged in the scheme of things. As at now, the PDP has no foothold in the coalition.
The few PDP elements that have identified with the ADC so far, are Atiku loyalists whose interests will be taken care of by their leader,” another source said on Tuesday.
The lingering speculation trailing the alleged moves by the governors of Oyo, Bauchi and Zamfara was on Tuesday reinforced by statements made by a former Ekiti State Governor, Ayo Fayose.
Fayose, who might have spoken with the benefit of privileged information, was emphatic during an interview session on Arise TV, that Makinde and Mohammed were on their way to joining the ADC.
And while the governors of Oyo, Bauchi and Zamfara are widely believed to be on their way to the ADC, their Adamawa State counterpart, Fintiri, is said to be eyeing the APC.
Fintiri, who many regard as a latter day ally of the FCT Minister, had been having a running battle with Atiku with whom he shares a political base.
A former political ally, the Adamawa governor had disagreed with Atiku over some undisclosed political issues.
In the heat of the disagreement, the governor, sometime in 2025, made a pronouncement stripping Atiku of the prestigious Wazirin Adamawa title, a pronouncement the former vice president appeared to have simply ignored.
Atiku still retains the title in his public communications. The Adamawa governor, who will be serving out his second and final tenure on May 29, 2027, is believed to be on the same page with Wike who is working for the re-election of President Bola Tinubu while still retaining his membership of the PDP.
