The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has resolved to take legal action against Delta State Governor, Sheriff Oborevwori, his deputy, Monday Onyeme, and other party leaders who recently defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
This decision was taken during a six-hour closed-door meeting of the PDP’s National Working Committee (NWC) held at the party’s national secretariat in Abuja on Tuesday.
Following the meeting, the PDP National Legal Adviser was directed to begin the legal process of reclaiming what the party described as its “stolen mandate” in Delta State.
In a communiqué released after the meeting, the NWC announced the dissolution of existing party structures in the state, citing mass defections as the reason. To stabilise the party in the region, the NWC appointed Emma Ogidi, the PDP’s South-South Zonal Chairman, to lead reorganisation efforts in Delta.
Speaking after the meeting, PDP Acting National Chairman, Ambassador Umar Damagum, stated:
“We have also instructed the national legal adviser to recover our mandate that they have taken away. The fortune of this party cannot be just left in the hands of our adversaries, so you (the national legal adviser) will take legal action to retrieve those mandates.”
He added, “We’ve just instructed the zonal caretaker committee to oversee the party in Delta, after dissolving all the structures that have already been there since the majority of them have shifted.”
In addition to addressing the defections, the NWC adopted several key recommendations from the PDP Governors’ Forum. The committee fixed May 28 for the next National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting and announced that the party’s National Convention would hold from August 28 to 30, 2025.
Governor Oborevwori, along with his deputy, commissioners, local government chairmen, and key grassroots mobilisers, defected to the APC on April 23. They were officially received by Vice President Kashim Shettima, APC National Chairman Abdullahi Ganduje, Senator Adams Oshiomhole, and Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State.
Also among the defectors was former Delta State governor and PDP’s 2023 vice-presidential candidate, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa. Political analysts have described the mass movement as a strategic realignment that weakens the PDP’s longstanding control in the state.
The APC has hailed the defection as more than just a political switch, calling it a “movement” and suggesting it could signal a major shift in the run-up to the 2027 general elections.
