Fintiri defects to APC, takes cabinet, PDP structure with him in dramatic realignment

The Adamawa state governor, Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri, on Friday defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), ending months of speculation over his political future and triggering a major realignment in the north-east state.

In a 14-minute statewide broadcast from the Government House in Yola, Fintiri said he had moved to the APC with his entire cabinet, PDP executives and political structure across the state’s 226 wards and 21 local government areas.

“Fellow citizens of Adamawa state, I address you today in this manner due to the magnitude of what we have at stake,” he said, recalling the mandate given to him in 2019 and renewed in 2023. While acknowledging the PDP’s role in his political rise, he said “recent events in the polity demand that we take decisive and strategic decisions”.

Shortly after the broadcast, PDP flags were removed from the governor’s office and other parts of the Government House.

Fintiri described the defection as a strategic alignment designed to position Adamawa within national power structures and to leverage what he called the “Renewed Hope Agenda” of Bola Ahmed Tinubu. He argued that the decision was guided by “consultation, legality and impact” and was not driven by personal ambition.

“The decision to leave the PDP and join the APC was not taken lightly,” he said. “It was guided by one overriding consideration: the long-term stability, development and prosperity of Adamawa state.”

The governor was subsequently registered as a member of the APC and issued membership card number 001.

The defection follows Wednesday’s move by 15 of the 16 PDP members of the Adamawa state house of assembly, including the speaker, to the APC, signalling a consolidation of power ahead of the 2027 general election.

Rumours of Fintiri’s possible switch had circulated since 2024 and intensified after President Tinubu’s recent visit to Yola to commission projects.