In what would be a major political shift in the Middle Belt, Governor Agbu Kefas of Taraba State is reportedly preparing to defect from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) in November 2025, immediately after the state’s local government elections. The move, according to sources familiar with discussions in Jalingo and Abuja, forms part of a broader realignment that has seen key figures and governors gravitate toward the ruling party.
Observers Times has learned that the realignment at the top includes national heavyweights as well: retired General Theophilus Yakubu (TY) Danjuma is now said to be fully aligned with President Bola Tinubu, and the publication earlier reported that Enugu Governor Peter Mbah has formally joined the APC, with the Governor of Bayelsa State also widely expected to follow suit. These developments, if sustained, would deepen President Tinubu’s leverage across several regions ahead of critical political cycles.
Locally, pressure on Governor Kefas to switch allegiance has been mounting. Last weekend a coalition of youth groups in Taraba publicly urged the governor to align with the ruling party, arguing that deeper ties to the centre are necessary to unlock stalled development projects. Speaking at a press conference in Jalingo, the groups’ spokesperson, Shedrack Gani, praised Kefas’s reform agenda and appealed for a strategic partnership with the federal government.
“Governor Kefas has already inspired us with courage and vision, but Taraba must not be left behind in Nigeria’s development journey,” Gani told reporters. “For our state to rise, we need more than good intentions; we need strong federal support. This is not about party rivalry; it is about practical politics. We want roads, power, jobs, and opportunities that secure our future. We want bridges that connect us, not politics that divide us.”
Youth leaders say the governor’s initial policies in education, healthcare, and youth empowerment have rekindled public confidence, but they insist the state’s infrastructure backlog is beyond what the state treasury can carry alone. Their appeal frames a potential defection less as opportunistic politics and more as a pragmatic calculation to access federal resources and accelerate projects that affect millions of residents.
Political analysts caution, however, that a Kefas defection would carry significant risk. A sitting governor switching parties can provoke backlash from loyalists within the state PDP, complicate local coalitions, and reshape competitive dynamics for future elections. Party insiders in both Taraba and Abuja told Observers Times that negotiations are ongoing and that a formal announcement could follow the November local government contests, which normally serve as a tactical inflection point for such moves.
Observers Times contacted spokespeople for Governor Kefas and the state PDP but received no immediate response. The state APC has not publicly confirmed the governor’s expected defection. Sources close to federal political circles say the unfolding alignments will be closely watched in the run-up to the 2027 election cycle, as consolidation among governors and national figures could recalibrate power balances across Nigeria.
This story will be updated as further confirmations or official statements emerge. Observers Times continues to track developments in Taraba and the growing pattern of defections and alignments around the ruling party.
