₦airaland Forum

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has downplayed the defection of Delta State Governor, Sheriff Oborevwori, and his predecessor, Ifeanyi Okowa, to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The duo and their entire structure dump the PDP on Wednesday ending the party 26 years in power.

PDP had ruled the Delta State known as the ‘Big Heart’ since the return to Democracy in 1999.


But reacting to the development at the party headquarters during the presentation of a certificate of return to its governorship candidate in the forthcoming Anambra State election, it’s acting National Chairman of the party, Ambassador Umar Ilyas Damagum, said the party has decided to leave its “fate in the hands of God.

Though he described the development as “very sad and unfortunate,” particularly given the PDP’s longstanding support for Delta, Damagun said “we believe he will help us out of this great situation.”

He said the presidential candidate of the Labour Party Peter Obi, who left PDP in the 2023 presidential election had no governor behind him but still garnered millions of votes.


He said the party remained resilient and battle-ready ahead of 2027 despite the setback.

“If there’s any state that should not have taken this path, it’s Delta. We gave them everything, supported for the governor, and even the former governor, who was our vice presidential candidate in 2023. We least expected this action from them.

“This is a party that has seen more than this and is still standing. Let me remind us all – Peter Obi had no governor behind him in 2023, but he still garnered millions of votes,” he said.

“The 2027 election is not about how many governors or so-called leaders a party has. It’s about President Tinubu and the condition of Nigerians. This election will be APC versus Nigerians.”

He warned that while defections may be secured through coercion or persuasion, the ordinary Nigerian, feeling the brunt of current economic policies, would ultimately decide the outcome.

“Policies are not made for governors or senators. They are made for the people – and today, the people are suffering. This hardship is not a coincidence; it’s a design. Nigerians will rise to rescue themselves.”


He added that, “Policies are meant for people, no one else because you make policy and it’s not for the ordinary

Printerscanner:
Una go cry tire.

Jagaban will hand over to a Yoruba man from Kwara or Kogi to take the turn of the North Central and Nyezom Wike as VP in 2031. Then you all will know that the god of Politics Emilokan Asiwaju Jagaban can do all things through Christ that strengthens him.

PresidObi:
After Buhari from the north took 8 years, if you, Atiku from the north is planning to take another 8 years, then you are taking southerners as lower humans.

But wetin concern me concern region,

The anti-Tinubu coalition led by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has expressed indifference to Wednesday’s decision of the Delta state Governor, Sheriff Oborevwori, to ditch the opposition Peoples Democratic Party PDP for the ruling All Progressives Congress APC.

Coalition spokesman, Salihu Moh. Lukman said the move was not unexpected and that some of the PDP governors are still being expected in the APC.


He said; “First, I think anybody who will say this is not unexpected, will only be deceiving himself. The signals have been there, that some governors were going to decamp. It is not just one but some governors.

“You also know the situation in PDP. The party is clearly a shadow of its own self. Although we acknowledge there are people, there are leaders in PDP who are optimistic they can rescue the party. But if you remember, when the governors issued a statement against the coalition, what was our response? Our response was that many of them were working for Asiwaju, and shortly after that, you saw the statement from Akwa Ibom, and of course the Delta governor. It is not only him, if you check the comments, there are many more who are being expected. And on two sides, on the side of people who genuinely worry for the country, are expressing fear about a one-party state.


“And on the side of the government and APC, they are jubilating. All that one can say is that look, the beauty of democracy is about competition. The whole initiative to begin to negotiate the coalition is to ensure that in 2027, Nigerians are presented with options.

“We have gone far, and what has happened in terms of some governors and some leaders moving into APC is not going to distract us at all. Not long from now, the full detail of the coalition will be unveiled to Nigerians. And the structure and the strategy in terms of how the election will be contested will be clarified”.

Lukman said leaders of the PDP should take this as an advantage and use it to for introspection and work towards sanitizing the country and rescuing it in a way that it will correct its own mistakes.

“What are those old mistakes? The old mistake is that anything that will continue with the culture of imposition of candidates, and godfatherism. That is what PDP has produced in this country.

“We are just hoping that leaders of PDP who genuinely are working to rescue the party are thinking in the direction that rescuing the party should mean rebuilding the party so that the culture of imposition is a thing of the past in PDP. If that happens, we will regard the new PDP that will be born as a partner in the project of the coalition to rescue the country.


“I can tell you for certain, we are not going to produce a new political structure that will be blind or ignorant of the character of politicians. Anybody coming in will be related to, based on their own past trajectory. So, if truly we want to rescue the country, we are not talking of rescuing the country as just defeating Asiwaju and APC.


“We want to correct all the mistakes and shortcomings from the Buhari administration to the Asiwaju administration. And we want to restore the aspiration of Nigerians to produce a stronger and greater country. Produce leaders that they will be proud of.


That is what the coalition is all about. And if anybody sees it differently, we are going to correct all of that”, he added

The World Bank has projected that poverty in Nigeria will increase by 3.6 percentage points over the next five years, rising through 2027.


This is according to the Bank’s Africa’s Pulse report, released during the ongoing Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank in Washington, DC.

The report paints a troubling outlook for poverty reduction in Nigeria, highlighting that despite some recent gains in economic activity—particularly in the non-oil sector during the last quarter of 2024—structural issues related to resource dependence and national fragility are likely to hinder progress.

According to the World Bank, Nigeria, alongside other resource-rich and fragile countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, will experience a worsening poverty situation—unlike non-resource-rich countries, which are expected to see faster poverty reduction.

“Poverty in resource-rich, fragile countries—including large economies like Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo—is projected to increase by 3.6 percentage points between 2022 and 2027,” the report stated.

The report underscores that Sub-Saharan Africa continues to have the highest extreme poverty rate globally, with a disproportionate concentration of the poor: In 2024, 80% of the world’s 695 million extreme poor lived in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Within the region, half of the 560 million extreme poor were located in just four countries.

In comparison, South Asia accounted for 8%, East Asia and the Pacific 2%, the Middle East and North Africa 5%, and Latin America and the Caribbean 3%.

Resource-rich countries are expected to lag in poverty reduction due to slowing oil prices and weak fiscal structures. Conversely, non-resource-rich countries are benefiting from high agricultural commodity prices, which are fueling stronger growth despite fiscal pressures.


The report adds: “This follows a well-established pattern whereby resource wealth combined with fragility or conflict is associated with the highest poverty rates—averaging 46% in 2024, which is 13 percentage points higher than in non-fragile, resource-rich countries.”

In light of these projections, the World Bank recommends that Nigeria and similar economies focus on improving fiscal management and building a stronger fiscal contract with citizens to promote inclusive economic development and long-term poverty alleviation.

PresidObi:
Nooooo, their role stops at removing the money from our oil money and dumping it at the gates of each university, everyone interested can then go and "grab it, take it by force and run with it"

Lifestone:
But Naira devaluation was inevitable since Jonathan time. No one has the gut.
Tinubu showed courage.

ufotunang:
.
I blame PDP that cannot suspend him for anti party activities...

helinues:
FG have done their part, if the citizens want to short changed themselves, that's their headache.

FG is busy with something else. Funds have been disbursed to the universities and their banks, let them sort themselves out.

helinues:
Anybody wey still call FG for this might be attracting thunder.

This is citizens to citizens issue.. Some citizens are actually horrible than the politicians

Paradoxical:
It takes some level of intelligence to interpret and digest simple analogy. Sometimes, pains can still make a man reasoning power blunt.

THE recent exposé concerning the misgovernance of funds under the Nigerian Education Loan Fund is deeply troubling. President Bola Tinubu, his Education Minister, Tunji Alausa, and the Managing Director of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, Akintunde Sawyerr, must probe the scheme and ensure its success. The student loan scheme must not fail.

Media reports allege that some universities may be conspiring with banks to withhold disbursed loan funds meant for indigent students.

NELFUND says it has disbursed N45.1 billion in loans to undergraduates from inception in May 2024 to March 2025.

In a meeting with Sawyerr, the Director-General, National Orientation Agency, Lanre Isa-Onilu, said the recent activity of the NOA community orientation and mobilisation officers discovered that tertiary institutions were suspected to collude with banks to delay student loan payments.



He said some institutions had failed to acknowledge funds sent to them by NELFUND, pointing out that these institutions deliberately delay the deployment of loans to offset tuition fees to the disadvantage of beneficiaries.

This translates to the fact that the delayed deployment of the funds is warehoused in banks for corrupt gain.

Meanwhile, students, unaware that their fees have been paid, continue to face harassment from school authorities, including threats of being barred from exams.


This exploitation undermines the very purpose of the scheme, a landmark initiative of the Federal Government designed to alleviate the financial burdens of students.

The loan process, structured to prevent diversion of funds by students, has instead created loopholes for corruption. Funds are released from NELFUND to banks, then to universities, bypassing students to ensure tuition is paid directly. However, some university officials and bankers have turned this into an opportunity for fraud.

Students remain powerless, unaware that their loans have been disbursed.

This mirrors Nigeria’s broader struggles with accountability, where public programmes are routinely hijacked for private gain. The government must fight corruption with clean hands to conquer it across every sector of national life.

For this scheme to succeed, NELFUND must publish a verified list of beneficiaries, enabling students to confirm their loan status and demand accountability.

Also, a digitised system should track disbursements from NELFUND to banks and universities, with notifications sent to students upon payment. Students should receive SMS or email alerts confirming loan disbursements, reducing opportunities for exploitation.

Crucially, there should be swift punishment for offenders. The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Corrupt Offences, Economic and Financial Crime Commission, and the self-styled Department of State Services must collaborate to investigate and prosecute corrupt university officials and bankers.


The NOA should not just condemn corruption but actively expose culprits. This will serve as a deterrent to other university officers and institutions.

While the student loan scheme is commendable, it cannot be the sole solution to Nigeria’s education crisis. The government must fund bursaries, scholarships, and infrastructure investments in existing institutions to expand investments in the sector.

Furthermore, the government must halt the needless expansion of institutions in the country. Approving new universities while neglecting the infrastructural, research and learning needs of current ones is irresponsible. The government must prioritise funding and quality over quantity.

Nigeria must borrow a leaf from the books of other countries with successful student loan programmes. It must study and emulate successful loan systems in the US and UK, adapting best practices to Nigeria’s context.

The NELFUND is a litmus test for the government’s declared commitment to reforming education. If allowed to fail like past development initiatives, such as Operation Feed the Nation, it will not only betray Nigerian students but also reinforce the culture of impunity.

Tinubu must ensure NELFUND is insulated from corruption, with strict oversight and consequences for failure. Education is the foundation of national development; those who sabotage it must face the full wrath of the law.

Paradoxical:
Do you understand how football game is being played? Oya mek I help u.
If a free kick is to be played from a spot close to your goal post and an opponent player joins your team players to form a wall that is meant to protect the goal post. What is work of the opponent player?
If u get d answer correct, na wike role bi dat.

richmond500:
Nobody saw Obi winning.
IREV was shut down from the beginning not when they saw Obi.

Minister of the Federal Capital Territory FCT, Nyesom Wike, has lauded the former Governor of Delta State and 2023 Peoples Democratic Party PDP Vice Presidential Candidate, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa, for supporting President Bola Tinubu, saying Okowa’s defection to the ruling All Progressives Congress APC has vindicated his (Wike’s) political stance in the last general election.


Wike in a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and Social Media, Lere Olayinka on Wednesday night in Abuja, said he has now been vindicated, following his decision not to support the 2023 PDP presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.



He said; “It is another endorsement of the president’s good governance and commitment to the development of the country.”

Wike called on other Nigerians who are still sitting on the fence to throw in their support for the President.

The Minister described the open endorsement of the president by Dr Ifeanyi Okowa, who was the running mate to Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, as “a vindication of the position I took in 2023, which was based on the interest of a united Nigeria.”


“I commend Dr Okowa and Governor Sheriff Oborevwori for this heart-warming decision, which must have been informed by good governance and commitment of President Bola Tinubu to the oneness and development of Nigeria.

“That is what I have always told people to come out and say, not when they have problems and begin to run up and down.

“They have come out at the right time to show support for the President so that the people of Niger Delta can benefit more from the government, and I commend them.

“I am particularly happy that what I saw before the 2023 presidential election, others are now seeing and are joining the Renewed Hope train,” the Minister said.

Max24:
All the real opposition are leaving their party to join APC leaving behind only the fake members of Nairaland opposition like Bobloco. Please, lets watch out for them so that they wont comtemplate suicide. Tinubu is putting his enemies to shame.

TemplarLandry:

I trust him; he's sure to be there even when uninvited.

Our official national mourner.
The perpetual all-black wearing clown.

HoeBee the packaged fraǔd by ...

LegendHero:
If God love your enemy, then your own don finish.

God love Tinubu so much that he won’t harm him.