Taraba State Governor Agbu Kefas was received in a closed-door meeting by President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Monday, marking the governor’s first formal visit to the seat of power since his defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Kefas arrived at the Villa accompanied by APC National Chairman Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda. The meeting, which took place around mid-afternoon, followed the governor’s earlier decision to suspend a planned public reception into the APC citing sensitivity over the abduction of schoolgirls in Kebbi State. The governor’s quiet approach underscores a deliberate strategy of incremental alignment with the ruling party rather than grand public displays.
Kefas’s defection is part of a wider realignment in Taraba, where the state assembly speaker and fifteen other lawmakers recently switched allegiance to the APC. Supporters of the governor say the migration reflects a pragmatic effort to “align with the centre” to accelerate development projects and ensure smoother cooperation with federal agencies.
A retired lieutenant colonel and former chairman of NIMASA, Kefas won the governorship in March 2023 on the PDP platform and later chose to cross to the APC amid ongoing national political shifts. Party insiders suggest the meeting is aimed at consolidating federal support for Taraba, discussing security concerns and ironing out fiscal arrangements for key infrastructure.
Observers say the meeting signals the APC’s intensified push to court opposition figures nationwide ahead of the 2027 general election. For Tinubu and APC strategists, securing high-profile defections from opposition strongholds boosts the party’s electoral prospects and weakens rival coalitions.
Civil society voices, however, caution against transactional politics, urging that cross-party movements be assessed by the gains they bring to citizens in terms of improved service delivery and accountability. The next steps from Aso Rock — whether memorandums of understanding, federal project approvals, or visible ministerial interventions — will be closely watched as indicators of what the defection ultimately delivers for Taraba residents.