Governor Sheriff Oborevwori Dumps PDP For APC

The Governor of Delta State, Sheriff Oborevwori, has officially announced his defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Naija News understands that the announcement followed a high-level, closed-door meeting held at the Government House in Asaba on Wednesday.

Oborevwori moved to the APC along with his deputy, Monday Onyeme, his commissioners and major stakeholders in the PDP in Delta State.

Senior APC figures were present to welcome the governor into their fold, signalling a significant political realignment in the South-South state.

The Delta State Commissioner for Information, Charles Aniagwu, officially confirmed the governor’s defection and the collective decision of Delta PDP leaders and stakeholders to join the APC.

“There is a need for us to adjust our drinking patterns. And in adjusting that drinking pattern, we needed to make a decision that would further help to cement the development in our state, to build the court of law that has existed in our state, to further advance the cause of security and the welfare of our people, and, to a large extent, ensure that development in Delta is not truncated.

“In taking that decision, we concluded that leaving the PDP was very necessary for us to be able to collaborate and build a state that every Deltan will be proud of. We believe that what is happening, and the state of the PDP, is akin to that palm wine whose taste has changed — and there was a need for us to change the drinking party,” Aniagwu said.

Also confirming the development in an announcement on Wednesday in Asaba, the Delta State capital, shortly after a meeting at the Government House, which lasted about six hours, Senator James Manager said they had to dump a sinking boat.

Manager stated, “All PDP members in the state, including the governor, former Governor Okowa, the Speaker, the state party chairman, all the local government chairmen and others, have agreed to move to the APC.

“We cannot continue to be in a sinking boat.”

Also, the governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Sir Festus Ahon, in a phone conversation with Arise News, said Oborevwori’s decision was borne out of “wide consultations with political stakeholders and in the interest of Delta’s long-term development.”

Governor Oborevwori was elected under the PDP platform in the 2023 gubernatorial election, defeating his opponents to secure the governorship seat. His defection to the APC, however, is already being interpreted by political analysts as a calculated strategy with an eye on the 2027 general elections.

The governor’s defection comes just moments after a viral video stirred speculation about his political future. In the footage, which sparked online debates, Oborevwori was seen in close company with known APC stakeholders. At the time, his media aide dismissed the clip as “old and misleading.”