Anxiety is mounting among members of the Taraba State House of Assembly who recently defected to the All Progressives Congress, APC, amid fears that their move to the ruling party may not secure them tickets in the forthcoming party primaries.
What was initially hailed as a strategic shift into the perceived safety of the ruling party is now giving way to uncertainty as preparations for the next general elections gradually gather pace.
A few months ago, sixteen lawmakers elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, defected to the APC alongside Governor Agbu Kefas. At the time, the move was widely interpreted as a calculated alignment with the centre, expected to ease political navigation and improve re-election prospects.
In the early phase, the defection was publicly presented as a show of unity and political foresight, with assurances of a brighter future within the APC. However, behind the scenes, concerns have continued to grow.
Sources noted that several of the defecting lawmakers are increasingly worried about their chances in APC primaries, having moved away from familiar party structures into a space dominated by long-standing party loyalists.
“We are new in the APC, and the majority of APC members are people we contested against in the past,” one of the lawmakers said. “How do we now face them in a primary election where they dominate the party structure?”
According to party insiders, entrenched APC leaders at the grassroots level control key structures that often influence primary outcomes, raising fears that the defectors could be edged out in constituencies where the party has enjoyed long-standing dominance.
Another lawmaker appealed for protection of the interests of those who followed Governor Kefas into the APC. “We followed Governor Kefas to the APC, and our interests must be protected. We should not be sacrificed,” the lawmaker said.
However, the expectations of automatic protection appear to clash with the position of the APC national leadership. The party has repeatedly insisted that its internal democracy will not be compromised, regardless of status or timing of defection.
APC Director of Publicity, Bala Ibrahim, recently stressed that there would be no automatic tickets. “There will be no automatic tickets for anyone. All aspirants must go through the party’s primaries,” he said.
While the defectors publicly maintain that their move was driven by ideology and the need for cooperation with the federal government, critics argue it was largely motivated by re-election calculations. With competitive primaries now assured, analysts say the political gamble may prove more difficult than anticipated.
