Governors Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State and Seyi Makinde of Oyo State are set to resign from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) before April, continuing a wave of defections that has unsettled the opposition party ahead of the 2027 elections.
Sources within the party said Bala Mohammed is moving to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), while Makinde plans to join the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
The departures follow a series of high-profile defections from PDP since the 2023 general elections.
Governors including Sheriff Oborevwori (Delta), Umo Eno (Akwa Ibom), Peter Mbah (Enugu), Siminalayi Fubara (Rivers) and Dauda Lawal(Zamfara) have all joined APC, while Ademola Adeleke of Osun moved to the Accord Party.
The crisis is not limited to governors. Federal lawmakers have also been defecting from the PDP in significant numbers.
According to a political tracking report by the (PLAC), at least 66 federal legislators elected under the PDP platform have defected to the APC since the inauguration of the 10th National Assembly in June 2023.
The defectors include 19 senators and 47 members of the House of Representatives.
The electoral body has scheduled the 2027 presidential and National Assembly elections for January 16, 2027, while governorship and state assembly elections are set for February 6, 2027.
However, party primaries are scheduled to begin much earlier, starting April 23, 2026 and ending May 30, 2026.
Under the electoral schedule, political parties must submit their membership registers to INEC between April 1 and April 21, 2026, in line with Section 77(4) of the Electoral Act.
The law requires that membership registers be submitted no later than 21 days before party primaries.
Political strategists say this deadline has created urgency among politicians planning to switch parties, as they must finalize their moves before party registers are submitted.
