Three senators of the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are set to team up with the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and have met with President Bola Tinubu as they finetune plans to leave the party.

The lawmakers are Aliero (Kebbi Central), Yahaya Abdullahi (Kebbi North), and Garba Maidoki (Kebbi South).

APC’s National Chairman Abdullahi Ganduje led the lawmakers to meet with President Tinubu at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

Those who were present at the meeting included Governor Nasir Idris of Kebbi State; Sokoto State Governor, Ahmad Aliyu, and the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Atiku Bagudu.

The planned defection adds to the growing list of politicians joining the APC, just two years before the 2027 election.

The development follows last week’s stakeholders’ meeting in Birnin Kebbi, where Governor Nasir Idris hinted that the senators would soon be joining the APC. While many of their supporters had already defected during the governor’s local government tour last year, the senators remained silent until now.

Their defection comes at a critical time for the PDP, as the party prepares for its National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting scheduled for May 27, 2025.

The latest blow further weakens the PDP’s already fragile structure in Kebbi. Recently, the PDP Publicity Secretary in the state, Sani Dododo, publicly accused the senators of deceiving party faithful and holding back their defection to cause maximum damage.

In response to the growing crisis, an extraordinary meeting of the PDP Governors’ Forum has been scheduled, the first of its kind, as such meetings are usually reserved for current governors.

The agenda, sources say, includes building consensus ahead of the party’s national convention and discussions around the zoning of national party offices.

Meanwhile, debate continues over who will emerge as the new face of the opposition in Kebbi.