ABUJA, Nigeria — Senator Adams Oshiomhole has called on former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar to author a book chronicling the phenomenon of political defections in Nigeria, citing Abubakar’s frequent party switches as a case study.
Speaking on Politics Today, a current affairs programme aired on Channels Television on Tuesday, May 13, 2025, Oshiomhole said Abubakar’s defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) while still serving as vice-president marked one of the most defining political realignments in Nigeria’s recent history.
“But let me remind you that those who started defection — the most popular one in the history of Nigeria — is His Excellency Atiku Abubakar,” Oshiomhole said.
“When, as a sitting vice-president of Nigeria, he decamped from PDP to ACN — which is now part of APC — was he courted by no state at all?”
The former Edo State governor questioned the narrative that defection signals disunity within political parties, arguing instead that personal ambition is often the principal driver.
“Was Atiku Abubakar coerced by Tinubu to come and join us in ACN?” he asked.
“Did ACN coerce Atiku Abubakar to leave Obasanjo and PDP to pick our ticket and run as president?”
Oshiomhole further challenged whether Abubakar’s political moves over the years were influenced by external pressure, stating that they were consistently self-motivated.
“Did we force him to leave our party and return to PDP to contest against Jonathan? When he lost, did we coerce him — without being in government — to come back to APC and run against Buhari?” he asked.
He added: “I think the best person who can write a book on why people decamp should be the former vice-president Atiku Abubakar.”
Abubakar, who served as vice-president from 1999 to 2007, has a long and complex political trajectory.
He joined the PDP at its inception in 1998, became vice-president under former President Olusegun Obasanjo, and later defected to the Action Congress (AC) in 2006 amid internal party disputes and opposition to Obasanjo’s alleged third-term agenda.
He returned to the PDP in 2009, only to leave again for the APC in 2014.
Following a period of disillusionment with the ruling party, he rejoined the PDP in 2017, citing unmet expectations and the failure of promised reforms within the APC.
