“Tinubu May Think He’s the Greatest Thing to Happen to Nigeria” – Dele Momodu Warns Defections Are Creating False Sense of Progress

Dele Momodu, publisher of Ovation magazine, has warned that the growing wave of defections to the All Progressives Congress (APC) could be giving President Bola Tinubu a distorted sense of political success. Speaking during an interview on Soni Irabor Live on News Central, Momodu said the president might mistakenly view the influx of new party members—many of them prominent politicians—as validation of his leadership, despite widespread public dissatisfaction.

“If you see all the governors decamping to your party, won’t you think you are the greatest thing that happened to Nigeria?” Momodu remarked. “You can’t blame the man if he feels that way.”

He stressed that in Nigeria, defections are rarely driven by ideology or performance, but by personal or political interests, which only deepens citizens’ cynicism about the political process. “Everywhere you turn in Nigeria, people are crying,” he said. “I have never seen this level of bitterness and I hope the president is taking this criticism in good faith.”

Momodu also criticized the disregard for constitutional provisions governing defections, pointing out that elected officials are required to relinquish their positions if they switch parties. “The constitution has been thrown overboard, which is unfortunate,” he said. “So any man who is tired of his political party should be ready to forfeit everything and take it in good faith.”

He decried the lack of consistency and principle in Nigerian politics, where some politicians switch parties multiple times within a short period. “You can wake up with APC, and in the evening, you are in the PDP, then the following morning, you are back to APC. It’s just unfortunate,” he added.

His comments echo recent criticism by Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, a former presidential adviser, who described the APC as a “political refugee camp” overrun by individuals fleeing accountability or seeking political opportunity.