VIDEO: Stay in ADC, Gbajabiamila urges Kogi rep to resist defecting to APC

In Nigeria, political loyalty is often tested, and the recent advice from President Bola Tinubu's Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, to Kogi lawmaker Leke Abejide to stay put in the African Democratic Congress (ADC) highlights this dynamic. Speaking at a personal event – Abejide's 20th wedding anniversary and his wife's 50th birthday – Gbajabiamila, a former Speaker of the House of Representatives, underscored the importance of party loyalty and consolidating one's political base.

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Honourable Abejide, I know you to be a committed party man. I know you to be a fighter. I know you to be someone who does not like to be cheated. So please, my charge to you is to stay in that same ADC. Fight them. Scatter them. Hold on to your party, ADC. Do not abandon them.

Gbajabiamila's counsel to Abejide to "fight them. Scatter them. Hold on to your party, ADC" is a clear directive against defecting, especially to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). This advice comes at a time when defections are common in Nigerian politics, often driven by electoral calculations and internal party squabbles. The Chief of Staff's intervention suggests that Abejide is a politician of interest, whose loyalty and political structure are deemed valuable enough to warrant direct intervention from the presidency.

The lawmaker, representing Yagba East/Yagba West/Mopamuro Federal Constituency, has reportedly faced pressure to switch parties. Gbajabiamila's encouragement for Abejide to "win your re-election in ADC" and to "bring in allies" indicates a strategy to strengthen the ADC, possibly as a counter-balance or a platform for future political maneuvering. This is particularly significant given that Abejide and others were recently reportedly expelled by the ADC's National Working Committee, a situation Gbajabiamila seems to dismiss, urging Abejide to "continue" and assuring him that "nobody can come and take your party away from you."

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We like what you are doing. Continue. Don’t mind what the former governor said, that they will come and join APC. No, no, no. Stay in ADC. Win your re-election in ADC and you will. Bring Gombe, what’s his name again? Bala Gombe. Bring him. Do the right thing.

From a Nigerian perspective, such political maneuvering is not unusual. Parties are often seen as vehicles for personal ambition, and alliances can shift rapidly. The intervention by the Chief of Staff, however, signals the intricate web of political patronage and influence that characterizes the country's governance. It also raises questions about the stability of political parties and the motivations behind such defections, which are often driven by more than just ideological alignment.

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You are a fighter. Do the right thing. Nobody can come and take your party away from you. A party that you’ve built with your sweat and your money and everything. Continue. Good luck in court.