BY BEN OGBEMUDIA

The Peoples’ Democratic Party, PDP’s nightmare has continued unabated, as the political winds have shifted dramatically in Kebbi State, leaving the party scrambling for footing after three of its heavyweight senators crossed over to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

This mass defection, long anticipated but still jarring, marks a decisive blow to the PDP’s already tottering structure in the state.

The trio, Senator Adamu Aliero (Kebbi Central), Senator Yahaya Abubakar Abdullahi (Kebbi North), and Senator Garba Maidoki (Kebbi South), announced their defection after a high-profile meeting with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

The move was orchestrated by APC National Chairman, Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje, and backed by a show of political force that included Kebbi Governor Nasir Idris, Sokoto Governor Ahmad Aliyu, and Budget and Planning Minister Senator Atiku Bagudu.

The timing couldn’t be worse for the PDP. With the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting set for May 27, 2025, the desertion of three of its most visible lawmakers leaves a vacuum of leadership and morale. Governor Idris had foreshadowed the defection at a recent stakeholders’ parley in Birnin Kebbi, noting that the senators were likely to “come home” to the APC. And while many of their loyalists had already defected during the governor’s tour of local governments last year, the senators had kept mum until now.

Inside the PDP, the fallout has been swift and bitter. The party’s Kebbi Publicity Secretary, Sani Dododo, didn’t mince words, accusing the senators of playing a deceptive waiting game to inflict maximum damage. He called them out for stringing along party faithful while quietly plotting their exit.

The defection has triggered an emergency response from the PDP hierarchy. An extraordinary meeting of the PDP Governors’ Forum is now in the works, an unusual step, given that such gatherings are typically limited to sitting governors. Party insiders say the agenda will focus on damage control, consensus-building ahead of the national convention, and potentially redrawing the zoning map for national party offices.

As the dust settles, a new power question is emerging: who fills the vacuum of opposition leadership in Kebbi? Curiously, eyes are turning to a familiar but now ambiguous figure, former Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami. Though once a loyal APC stalwart, Malami has lately distanced himself from the ruling party and the CPC bloc pushing Tinubu’s 2027 re-election. He’s been conspicuously absent from recent APC events, and while he hasn’t declared for another party, the political tea leaves suggest he may be rebranding himself as the face of a reimagined opposition in Kebbi.

With 2027 looming on the horizon, the defection saga signals not just a loss for the PDP, but a reckoning. The lines are being redrawn, and the battle for Kebbi’s political soul is just beginning.