Taraba State’s political landscape was jolted on Monday as the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, John Bonzena, led 14 lawmakers in a sweeping defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), triggering what insiders described as an unprecedented legislative upheaval.
The mass defection, which instantly weakened the PDP’s grip on the assembly, comes barely 48 hours before Governor Agbu Kefas is expected to formally abandon the PDP and join the APC in what many see as the final collapse of the party’s structure in the state.
Bonzena and the other lawmakers announced their resignation from the PDP in what several assembly insiders characterised as a “coordinated flight from a sinking ship,” signalling a total realignment of political loyalties ahead of anticipated national and state-level realignments.
The lawmakers’ move effectively hands the APC overwhelming dominance in the legislature, consolidating its influence just as the governor prepares for his own high-profile crossover.
Governor Kefas had, over the weekend, publicly revealed his intention to dump the PDP while inspecting the ongoing renovation works at the Jolly Nyame Stadium, the venue prepared for Wednesday’s grand reception rally where he is expected to be unveiled as the newest heavyweight in the APC camp.
Kefas, one of the PDP’s remaining northern strongholds, had joined Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara and Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke in boycotting the controversial PDP convention in Ibadan — a move widely interpreted as a coordinated protest against the party’s internal turmoil.
Political analysts say the boycott signalled deep fractures at the top of the opposition party, fractures that have now erupted into full-blown defections.
With the defection tsunami sweeping through the assembly and the governor’s formal move imminent, observers say the PDP’s backbone in Taraba has effectively snapped.
What was once a PDP stronghold in the North-East now appears poised to hand the APC a sweeping advantage just months before the intense political machinations leading up to 2027 begin.