Governor Caleb Mutfwang of Plateau State has revealed that he is under intense pressure from political stakeholders to defect from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

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Speaking on Saturday at an event held at the Banquet Hall of the Government House in Jos, Mutfwang firmly declared that he would not abandon the PDP, insisting that only God and the people who elected him have the authority to influence his political decisions.

“It is not a lie that they also put pressure on me. But I told them only two people would authorise me to change my party. One is the God of heaven, then the other is you, the people,” he said.
Turning to the audience, he asked: “Have you asked me to go anywhere?” The crowd responded with a resounding “No.”

His remarks follow recent reports suggesting that APC leaders in the state had rejected any plan to admit him into their ranks.

At a recent APC stakeholders’ meeting in Jos, a motion proposed by former Deputy National Secretary of the APC, Festus Fuanter, to consider Mutfwang’s possible defection, was overwhelmingly rejected.

“We don’t want anybody coming to our party. You do your thing, and we’ll do ours,” Fuanter stated, stressing that the APC was strong enough to face the 2027 elections without external support.

Reacting, Mutfwang dismissed the opposition to his alleged defection as baseless, claiming that many within the APC would actually welcome him if he chose to join.

“Those who are rejecting me for what I did not look for are doing a useless exercise. The truth is that 60 to 70 per cent of the people in the APC on the Plateau will be glad to have us in their party. They know I will not join them, and that is why they are angry and trying to twist it,” he said.

He added that the issue was not one he intended to dwell on, describing it as “a story for another day.”

Mutfwang’s declaration comes amid a wave of defections from the PDP to the APC since the 2023 general elections. Governors Umo Eno (Akwa Ibom), Sheriff Oborevwori (Delta), and Peter Mbah (Enugu) have all defected, while Bayelsa’s Douye Diri recently resigned from the PDP amid reports of his move to the ruling party.

The Plateau governor’s statement is expected to calm nerves within the opposition PDP, which has faced growing concerns over the loyalty of its remaining governors in Taraba, Zamfara, and Osun. While Governors Ademola Adeleke (Osun) and Dauda Lawal (Zamfara) have denied rumours of defection, associates of Taraba Governor Agbo Kefas have been seen mobilising public support for a possible switch to the APC.