President Bola Tinubu has openly welcomed the ongoing wave of defections from opposition parties to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), urging his party’s leadership to intensify efforts to attract even more opposition members ahead of the 2027 elections.
Speaking at the APC National Summit held on Thursday at the Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa in Abuja, President Tinubu expressed satisfaction with the recent wave of defections to the ruling party and encouraged the APC leadership to continue this momentum.
He said, “You don’t blame people bailing out of a sinking ship when they have no life jacket. I am glad of what we have and I’m expecting more to come. That’s the game.”
President Tinubu’s remarks come amid a significant number of lawmakers and politicians from opposition parties, including the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), defecting to the APC.
The President dismissed concerns that the defections could lead to a one-party system, emphasising that Nigerians’ constitutional rights to freedom of movement and association must be respected.
“We are in a constitutional democracy, don’t forget the freedom of movement and freedom of association is not criminally punishable. Welcome to the progressives, sweep them clean,” he said.
At the same summit, the APC officially endorsed President Tinubu as its sole presidential candidate for the next general elections.
The endorsement was unanimously supported by the party’s National Working Committee, the Progressive Governors’ Forum, and the leadership of the National Assembly.
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