By Israel Adebiyi

There is a strange rustling in Nigeria’s political forest these days — not of development or reform — but the frantic wing-flapping of politicians turning coats faster than a magician at a street carnival. Yes, once again, the vultures are gathering, and the carcass they circle is none other than the tattered remains of ideological politics in Nigeria.

Gone are the days when parties were bound by clear-cut beliefs. Today, in the Nigerian political dictionary, ideology is defined as whatever keeps me out of EFCC trouble and loyalty is simply whoever signs the bigger cheque. Defection has become a sport, a market, a ritual — and the politicians? A fair-weather company of deserters.

Take a good look at Delta State, the latest theater of the absurd. On Monday, the Vice President, Kashim Shettima, led an armada of APC governors to welcome Delta’s Governor, Sheriff Oborevwori, and — drumroll — Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, the immediate past vice-presidential candidate of the PDP, into the APC fold.

Yes, you heard right. PDP’s two grand lions in Delta, now in APC jerseys, chanting a new anthem. Like a lady stripped of her dignity in the market square, Delta PDP was dismantled. Everybody with any weight, clout, or dancing skills made a grand somersault into the APC.

Mind you, this is a state where APC, despite huffing and puffing over 26 years, never managed to blow down PDP’s house. And yet, overnight, they woke up to find the steering wheel of the state government handed to them — not after an election, but by executive surrender. One minute, the APC was struggling to rent a kiosk in Delta politics; the next, they are cutting housewarming cakes.

Governor Oborevwori, now fully draped in APC colours, didn’t just defect — he became the APC leader in Delta! Meanwhile, the original APC “landlords” like Senator Ovie Omo-Agege and Festus Keyamo have been turned into tenants in their own home. At a courtesy visit to the new landlord, Keyamo bluntly told loyal APC members: “Follow your new master or find another playground.” Democracy, Nigerian style. Such is the gathering of vultures. In the feast of political carcasses, if you weren’t invited, don’t even smell the kitchen!

And what was the official excuse? According to Okowa, the defection was “necessary to better connect Delta State with the federal government and benefit from the resources and goodwill available in Abuja.”

Let that echo properly: benefit from the resources and goodwill available in Abuja! Translation: secure personal survival, eat federal cake, and leave the voters to chew the crumbs. The same Delta people who, roughly over two years ago, decisively rejected the APC at the polls, reaffirming that Delta is PDP and PDP is Delta. The people? They’re just extras in this poorly scripted movie.

Make no mistake, the Nigerian defector is not moved by conviction but by calculation. When the party is good, they dance. When the food finishes, they wipe their mouths and walk out the back door. They loot their parties dry, sell out their comrades, and wear new party colors like a scarf in Harmattan.

In this bazaar, honor is not a currency. Faithfulness is foolishness. It’s all about who offers the juiciest meat at the gathering.

But beyond the drama, there is a sinister undertone. As opposition parties collapse and key figures desert, Nigeria risks sleepwalking into a one-party state — the graveyard of true democracy. Without viable opposition, governments become their own praise singers, and citizens become casualties.

Even more troubling is the emerging North-South polarization. Voices like Hakeem Baba-Ahmed and Nasir El-Rufai have bluntly stated that a Southern presidency is a disadvantage to the North. 2027 looks set to be another North vs South street fight, not a contest of ideas.

Opposition parties must now either reinvent themselves, or resign to being sideshows. PDP must stop acting like a weeping widow and start acting like a contender. Labour Party must move from hashtags to grassroots. NNPP must stop being a regional loudspeaker and build national bridges.

Or else, when the vultures are done gathering, there’ll be nothing left but bones — bones of democracy, accountability, and hope.

The gathering has begun.
The question is: who will survive the feast?