2 weeks Ago By THEWILL
April 23, (THEWILL) – The April 12, 2025, defection of members of the Delta Unity Group (DUG) to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has signaled a major political shift in Delta State’s political landscape. Political analysts believe that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which currently controls the state, may now require a miracle to retain power in the 2027 governorship election, following the mass exodus that has hit its ranks. More than 10,000 members of the DUG and their supporters—many of whom were seasoned grassroots PDP chieftains—officially defected to the APC.
They were received by the National Chairman of the APC, H.E. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje; Governor of Edo State, H.
E. Senator Monday Okpebholo; and Chairman of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) Governing Board, Mr. Chiedu Ebie, alongside other prominent political figures in Delta State.
Deltans have largely welcomed the development, with many describing it as a political earthquake that was long overdue. Due to its grassroots orientation, DUG has often been likened to the Mandate Group, the independent political pressure group that played a pivotal role in the emergence of Bola Tinubu as Governor of Lagos State in the early 1990s. The Mandate Group, which aims to defend President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s mandate and promote democracy, unity, justice, and liberty, has structures in all 36 states and claims 580,000 members in Lagos alone.
The group also targets various segments of society, including students, workers, artisans, teachers, fishermen, farmers, and women. It plans to reach 40 million members nationwide within the next year. Similarly, the DUG has emerged as a potent third force in Delta politics.
Although not a new group, it has, over the years, quietly shaped the state’s political direction. DUG is not a political party but a Delta-based pressure group founded by the visionary trio of Mr. Olu-Tokunbo (Lulu) Enaboifo, Mr.
Chiedu Ebie, and Sir Itiako (Malik) Ikpokpo. Its original mission was to modernize Delta State and serve as the brainbox for Olorogun David Edevbie’s 2023 PDP governorship campaign. Though that aspiration was curtailed by the Supreme Court’s ruling in favor of Elder Sheriff Oborevwori, DUG remained a formidable political movement.
It boasts a solid organizational structure, including 17 National Executive Council members, a Board of Trustees, local government executives in all 25 LGAs, and ward executives across the state. Its grassroots penetration is deep and cell-like. Before the 2023 general elections, a faction of DUG declared its support for the APC at the Obinoba Declaration.
The then-APC governorship candidate, H.E. Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, described the group as the “intelligent wing” of the PDP.
While many DUG members in Delta North remained in the PDP at the time, they later pledged their support for the APC’s governorship candidate and other party aspirants—despite not having formally defected. This led to the suspension or alienation of many of them by the PDP. Their progressive mindset made it easy for DUG members to integrate into the APC fold.
Following the 2023 elections, DUG members in Ika Federal Constituency continued working closely with the APC, helping to strengthen the party’s grassroots presence with the goal of converting Ika into an APC stronghold by 2027. In recognition of his contributions, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu appointed DUG Co-founder and Convener, Mr. Chiedu Ebie, as Chairman of the NDDC Governing Board in 2023.
That appointment invigorated the DUG further, enabling it to project the Renewed Hope Agenda across Delta State. Ika Federal Constituency became the group’s epicenter, and its influence has since spread to Ndokwa/Ukwuani and Aniocha/Oshimili Federal Constituencies in Delta North. This momentum has triggered a wave of defections from both the PDP and Labour Party into the DUG, as well as the reactivation of dormant APC loyalists.
Even non-partisan individuals and recently retired civil servants have joined the APC, drawn by the visible impact of President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda. Therefore, the massive crowd that converged in Agbor, Ika Federal Constituency, on April 12, 2025, to formally join the APC did not come as a surprise. The group’s readiness to align Delta State with the progressive vision of the APC has been clear for some time.
Given this development, many believe that the 2027 elections will witness the dethronement of the PDP in Delta State and the rise of a people-centered leadership under the APC—one aligned with President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda. ***Written by Jerome-Mario Utomi Jerome-Mario Utomi, a media specialist, writes from Lagos, Nigeria. He can be reached at [email protected] or 08032725374.
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