By Desire Emmanuel
A major storm is currently gathering in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) ahead of the 2027 general election and if it is not properly handled, it may cause serious implosions in various states of the country.
The storm is said to have arisen following the recent defections of some highly influential persons, including governors, senators and House of Representatives members from the opposition parties to the ruling parties.
This was said to have caused disaffections in some of the states as those who just defected have turned to ‘power brokers’ because of their deep pockets while those who were hitherto the known faces in the party are gradually being sidelined.
By the party’s rule, for example, the governors are naturally leaders of the party in the states despite the fact that some of them just defected to the ruling party.
Currently, the APC controls 32 states of the federation following the defection of some governors in recent times.
Inside sources in some of the states where former governors, senators and House of Representatives members defected to the APC including Akwa Ibom, Delta, Zamfara, Bayelsa, among others, told Impact Nigeria News Online on Monday that the disquiet among sidelined party leaders may cause crises that may be difficult to manage, especially few months to the primaries.
Tensions are said to be rising as the new ‘power brokers’ may clash with long-standing party loyalists over positions, influence and control, amid accusations of a ‘hostile takeover’ by the defectors which they alleged was backed by Aso Rock.
Due to this accusations of hostile takeover, various rival factions that have been formed are spoiling for a showdown and have been holding parallel meetings, deepening disputes over tickets and leadership, thus exposing cracks that may be exploited by the opposition parties.
However, the inside sources said the leadership of the party is doing everything possible in dousing the tensions at the state level of the party while Aso Rock has been holding repeated meetings with stakeholders in the states in order to contain the fallout.
Meanwhile, while the APC is facing the gathering storm that may likely tear the party apart, the various opposition parties, including the African Democratic Congress (ADC), the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Labour Party (LP) who are expected to cash in on the situation, are themselves choking on their own power struggles and internal battles.
