Prominent legal luminary and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Olisa Agbakoba, has launched a scathing critique of Nigeria’s political class, condemning what he described as unbridled greed and a disturbing lack of loyalty to party ideology.
Speaking in a hard-hitting interview on Channels Television on Monday, May 19, 2025, Agbakoba, a human rights activist decried the ongoing wave of political defections, accusing many politicians of shifting allegiance solely to serve personal ambitions rather than uphold ideological convictions or party principles.
The former President of the Nigerian Bar Association did not mince words as he singled out former Delta State governor and 2023 vice-presidential candidate, Ifeanyi Okowa, for public rebuke.
Agbakoba, who has contributed to legal reforms in Nigeria, criticized Okowa’s recent defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC), describing the move as morally questionable and politically opportunistic.
“The politicians in our country are extremely greedy,” Agbakoba declared. “Okowa is a major letdown.
A man who rose through the ranks of the PDP, from councillor to local government chairman, commissioner, SSG, governor, and then vice-presidential candidate, now turns around to label the party irrelevant.
That’s not just disloyalty; it’s a betrayal of the political system that empowered him.”
It would be recall that Okowa, was also elected Senator under same platform for Delta North.
Agbakoba emphasized that such actions reflect a broader erosion of political values and institutional discipline within Nigeria’s democratic space, adding,
“This level of political prostitution is why Nigerians can no longer be pitied. Our leaders have normalized self-interest over public service.”
His remarks come amid growing concerns over high-profile defections ahead of the 2027 general elections.
In April, Okowa, once the running mate to Atiku Abubakar in the 2023 presidential race, along with his successor, Governor Sheriff Oborevwori, officially joined the APC, citing the need to “align with the federal government” as justification.
However, critics argue that the rationale masks a deeper crisis of political integrity, one that Agbakoba warns could further destabilize Nigeria’s fragile party system and deepen public cynicism toward democratic governance.
“If loyalty, principle, and ideology mean nothing, then politics becomes nothing more than a marketplace of ambition,” Agbakoba warned.
