By Sakariyah, Ridwanullah
In October 2025, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), which was once the dominant force in Nigerian politics, finds itself reduced to a vulnerable handful of eight state governors, isolated enclaves amid a sweeping tide of defections and the unrelenting dominance of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
In places like Bauchi, where the PDP Governors’ Forum chairman, Bala Mohammed, attempts to project unity, the prevailing mood is less one of opposition strength and more the palpable sense of a party under siege. It captures starkly the dramatic decline of a party that once held the centre for sixteen years.
Now, this isolation has been fuelled by a recent wave of high-profile exits from the party: among them: Delta’s Sheriff Oborevwori, Akwa Ibom’s Umo Eno, Enugu’s Peter Mbah and Bayelsa’s Douye Diri. This has ungraciously stripped the party of crucial footholds in the South and East. The defections leave the remaining PDP governors contending with the heavy lift of resisting a party machine backed by federal resources and political momentum.
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These remaining governors now stand at the sharp end of Nigerian federalism, all representing the final bastions of the PDP. They are:
Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri (Adamawa, inaugurated May 2019): A former Speaker of the State Assembly, Fintiri’s administration has focused heavily on education reform and urban renewal projects, a drive that draws on his political roots as a pragmatic grassroots operator.
Bala Muhammed (Bauchi, inaugurated May 2019): A former Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, he currently chairs the PDP Governors’ Forum. His experience as a key figure in past administrations makes him a critical, albeit increasingly lonely, voice for party coherence.
Ademola Adeleke (Osun, inaugurated November 2022): Nicknamed ‘The Dancing Governor,’ his populist appeal and dramatic victory against an incumbent APC governor positioned him as a symbol of PDP’s enduring grassroots potential.
Seyi Makinde (Oyo, inaugurated May 2019): A highly successful electrical engineer and entrepreneur, Makinde has governed with a technocratic focus on infrastructure and security, while leveraging his extensive private sector background to drive internal revenue generation.
Caleb Mutfwang (Plateau, inaugurated May 2023): A lawyer, Mutfwang’s tenure is defined by the daunting security challenges in the North-Central, constantly battling farmer-herder clashes that threaten the social fabric of his state.
Siminalayi Fubara (Rivers, inaugurated May 2023): His administration is largely overshadowed by a spectacular political conflict with his estranged predecessor and FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, subjecting him to intense political and judicial hurdles.
Agbu Kefas (Taraba, inaugurated May 2023): A retired military officer, Kefas has brought a security-first approach to a state frequently beset by communal and security crises, a reflection of the volatility across Nigeria’s middle belt.
Dauda Lawal (Zamfara, inaugurated May 2023): An experienced banker, Lawal’s mandate is largely focused on the existential threat of banditry and his high-stakes anti-corruption drives, which often put him in conflict with entrenched local interests.
Their collective burden is relatively immense. In terms of economy, they are squeezed by shrinking federal allocations that soar inflation and the aftermath of fuel subsidy removal. For instance, a 2021 fact-check by Africa Check noted that although Seyi Makinde said the state’s internally generated revenue had grown significantly, Oyo State still remained heavily dependent on federal allocations, “in 2019 two-thirds of its revenue was from the federal government,”
In the same vein, their internal fractures amplify their pain. The delayed national convention of the PDP, recently scheduled for November, underlines the paralysing effect of infighting between the old-guard and emerging factions. At a governors’ forum meeting in May 2025, several sitting PDP executives were absent. This, of course, indicates a deepening disunity among PDP members, (Vanguard, 2025).
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“The PDP’s fall from dominance since 2015 is rooted in a failure of ideology, replaced by a patronage structure that now finds a more reliable patron in the ruling party,” observed political scientist Jibrin Ibrahim. This insight helps explain the allure of APC’s “federal might” that many defectors cite as necessary for development and stability. The former Senate president and PDP BoT chair, Adolphus Wabara, strikes a further warning: “A one-party state is a prelude to autocracy and retrogression,” (Vanguard, 2025).
In Rivers State, Governor Siminalayi Fubara’s prolonged clashes with his predecessor and current FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, have become emblematic of how internal party tensions can undermine governance. In January 2025, reports by The Guardian Nigeria and Premium Times chronicle how the rift, which was marked by legal battles and political brinkmanship, has paralysed parts of the state’s administrative machinery.
Meanwhile, in Plateau State, Governor Caleb Mutfwang continues to battle recurring violence between farming and herding communities. He has repeatedly appealed for stronger federal intervention, as he told Vanguard Newspaper in June 2025 that “local policing is crucial to ending insecurity.” Across the North-Central, the pattern is similar: governors like Mutfwang and Taraba’s Agbu Kefas face mounting pressure to restore stability amid limited resources and delayed federal support.
What is more, defections have hollowed out the PDP to the extent that the remaining governors are now the party’s last visible state-level bastions. The PDP Governors’ Forum remains the only formal platform for opposition unity, but that is even fraying. At their April 2025 meeting in Ibadan, the governors issued a communiqué that ruled out any merger or coalition ahead of the 2027 elections, (reported by Radio Nigeria Ibadan Donald Station). In October 2025, a report from The Guardian quoted Governor Seyi Makinde saying: “The ultimate political decision rests with Nigerians,”
Looking ahead to 2027, the PDP faces an existential question. Could an alliance with emerging third forces, say a coalition with the Peter Obi-backed Labour Party, restore its national clout? Or will defections continue to erode multiparty democracy and leave Nigeria on the brink of one-party dominance? As Former PDP Governor Ayodele Fayose said in a report from TheCable, “There will be five remaining. The five remaining, one of them will struggle to catch the ticket…” if the current trends persist.
READ ALSO: PDP expresses confidence ahead of national convention
But in the end, the fate of Nigeria’s opposition may not rest solely on these eight governors, but in their states (Adamawa, Bauchi, Osun, Oyo, Plateau, Rivers, Taraba, Zamfara), the final battle for a credible alternative voice is already underway.
