Aides to President Bola Tinubu have attributed the recent influx of political figures into the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the President’s effective leadership.

The presidential aides claimed that Tinubu’s leadership has stabilised the party and positioned it as the safest political shelter ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Speaking on the development, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Temitope Ajayi, in an interview with Punch on Saturday, said, “He is not masterminding anybody to leave their party. He has made the party attractive to others who are willing to join. What he has done is to make the right decisions, even though tough, some of them painfully initially.

A beautiful woman will always attract suitors. So, if you have made your house good, people whose houses are tattered and whose houses have no roof will naturally come to you, where they can get shelter.

“If people say they want to come and take shelter, we won’t chase them away, and that is politics. In politics, you add to your number. You don’t remove your number. Politics is about getting more people on your side, not sending people away from your side.”

A second presidency source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, blamed the defections on the collapse of PDP cohesion, arguing there were no inducements from the Aso Rock Villa.

“The opposition is in tatters. They have no semblance of organisation, and for any politician, what he cares about is how to win his election, how to remain relevant, how to be in the scheme of things. I don’t think the President has met with any of them privately,” the aide said.

A third source recalled Tinubu’s 16 years leading the opposition, urging the opposition to fix their parties to forestall further defections.

“People should not forget that the President himself was the leader of the opposition for 16 years. He remained the only surviving governor of his party, Alliance for Democracy.

“He stayed there, strengthening the party, and he galvanised the opposition to form what is today the APC and made it so strong that they could unseat a ruling party. They defeated the sitting president, which was unprecedented in Nigerian history.

“So, if those who say they want to take power from him cannot organise themselves, do you blame him for that?” the source said.