PDP in Disarray as Key Leaders Defect to APC in Lagos

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), once considered the strongest opposition force in Lagos State, has continued its slide into political obscurity following the defection of key leaders, including the party’s Publicity Secretary in the state, Alhaji Hakeem Amode, to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

Amode’s defection, alongside several other prominent PDP chieftains, comes on the heels of the departure of the party’s 2023 governorship candidate, Abdul-Azeez Olajide Adediran, popularly known as Jandor, who recently returned to the APC—his former political home.

Political observers describe the wave of defections as a clear signal of the PDP’s collapse in Lagos, the home state of President Bola Tinubu.

Once a formidable challenger to the dominance of the Alliance for Democracy (AD), the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), and later the APC, the PDP in Lagos has become rudderless and leaderless.

The 2023 general elections highlighted the party’s dwindling influence. The PDP failed to win a single seat in the Lagos State House of Assembly, as the APC secured 38 seats and the Labour Party (LP) clinched 2. A similar fate befell the PDP in the House of Representatives, where the APC won 19 seats, LP took 5, while the PDP again recorded no victory.

The governorship election further underscored the party’s decline. APC’s Babajide Sanwo-Olu polled 762,134 votes, while LP’s Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour garnered 312,329 votes. PDP’s Jandor trailed a distant third with just 62,449 votes—marking the first time in over two decades that the party failed to secure second place in the state’s gubernatorial contest. In 2019, PDP’s Jimi Agbaje had placed second with 206,141 votes.

Jandor, upon defecting back to the APC, blamed internal sabotage and lack of support from the PDP leadership for the party’s poor showing, a sentiment echoed by other departing members. His exit, analysts say, confirmed fears within the party that the PDP in Lagos no longer has a viable future.

While the PDP grapples with internal crises and court disputes, the Labour Party, bolstered by the ‘Obidient Movement’ and the rising popularity of its presidential candidate Peter Obi, has swiftly filled the opposition vacuum the PDP left behind.

Despite the mass defections, the Lagos State PDP insists its structure remains intact. In a statement signed by the State Secretary, Soji Orioye, the party dismissed reports of collapse as “laughable” and “a comic remark.”

“The claim by Amode that they have collapsed the PDP structure in the state is laughable and can best be described as a comic remark. The PDP in Lagos remains solid and intact,” Orioye said.

Meanwhile, a PDP member in Gbagada, Segun Yinka, accused the APC and President Tinubu of orchestrating the systematic weakening of opposition politics in Lagos and across the country.

“The APC under President Bola Tinubu has done everything possible to frustrate opposition parties out of relevance. Democratic institutions, structures, and even public confidence have been captured,” Yinka alleged.

He further claimed that opposition voices are being stifled, warning that Nigeria risks sliding into a one-party state if the trend continues.

As the 2027 general election approaches, political analysts say the PDP in Lagos faces an uphill task to revive its relevance, with many of its top strategists and loyalists now firmly in the APC camp.